Good At Dating
by Mag68
Summary: What if Sookie's words came out of Luke's mouth in Run Away, Little Boy?
1. Explosion

**A/N: This has been rattling around in my head for a while. Let me know what you think. Should I go on? **

**All of the usual disclaimers - I own nothing but a pile of debt.**

Lorelai and Sookie strolled to an empty table at Luke's. Lorelai collapsed into her chair with a dramatic sigh as they waited for Luke to come over to take their order. "I have got to tell you, Sook, I am getting a little tired of the running commentary about my date with Paul." Lorelai began to rant. "The guy asked me to dinner, I said yes, we ate, we chatted, and that was it! Totally casual! I never thought that I would be taking this much grief over one stupid dinner!"

"Aw, Honey. Don't let them get to you. The town likes to tease, and you know that Patty is just jealous that you bagged a young one." Sookie replied, patting Lorelai's arm.

"I bagged nothing!" Lorelai exclaimed. "I just went to dinner with a guy in my class. Besides, he isn't that much younger than me!"

"Well, he looked pretty young." Sookie said gently.

"You didn't even see him!"

"Kirk snapped pictures!" Sookie replied.

"I'm getting coffee. I'll be right back." Shaking her head, she strolled up to the counter where Luke was busy clearing dishes and ignoring Lorelai's presence.

"Hey you! What's up with you?" she called to him.

"Nothing is up with me." Luke replied with and turned away to carry the dishes to the kitchen.

"What, so now you're walking away from me? Hey, how about some coffee on your way?" she called to his retreating back.

"Lorelai," Boosty called from his seat at the counter, "I hear you're dating a kid."

Lorelai dropped her forehead to the counter "Please, let something big fall on my head," she moaned.

"When I was 18," Bootsy continued, "I was dating an older lady. Broke my heart."

"Well, Bootsy," Lorelai replied, "I'm sorry that you got dumped, but I am not dating a kid."

Luke walked out of the kitchen and snagged the coffee pot and a mug as he passed by. He stopped in front of Lorelai and began to pour her cup.

"I didn't get dumped," Bootsy gestured toward Lorelai, "she died. Heart Attack. She was quite old."

Luke shook his head and turned to walk away again.

"Hey." Lorelai called to him.

"I'm working," Luke replied in a surly tone, "us older guys do that."

Lorelai began to follow him to the other end of the counter. "Why are you being so mean to me?" she asked, exasperated.

"I'm not being mean." Luke replied shortly.

"Why are you so mad at me?" Lorelai persisted.

Luke turned to her and spoke in a harsh whisper. "I just think it's embarrassing!"

"What is so embarrassing?" Lorelai asked, confused by his intensity.

"You running around with that kid!" Luke said raising his voice a little.

She felt the anger building inside of her. "I wasn't running, he's not a kid. We had dinner. He asked me out and I said okay. What's the big deal?" Lorelai yelled, "Why do you care? Why are you so mad about it?"

"You're right!" Luke yelled back, "It's never a big deal for you. You're engaged, then you're not! Rory's dad is here, then he's not! I just sit here watching you flit from man to man. Then, this kid walks in, and I find out that you're dating someone who makes Doogie Howser look like a geezer. And, I can't help thinking to myself my God, get a clue Danes, she's going to date anyone else in the world before she'll date you, so get over it!" Luke bellowed as he slammed the coffee pot on the counter.

The entire diner was still. Lorelai was riveted to her spot. Suddenly, Luke realized what he had said aloud. He shook his head a bit to clear it, spun on his heel and disappeared behind the curtain.

Loreali stood with her mouth agape as she heard his heavy footsteps quickly climbing the stairs. She felt a hand on her arm and turned to find Sookie looking at her wide eyed.

"Come on, Sweetie." Sookie whispered softly, "We should take a little walk, get out of here for a bit, huh?"

Lorelai allowed herself to be gently pulled from the diner. She took a deep breath of fresh air and turned to her friend. "What the hell just happened in there?" she asked bewildered.

tbc


	2. Fallout

**A/N: Thanks to all for your reviews and encouragement!**

Fallout

Lorelai and Sookie stood on the sidewalk in front of the diner stunned by what had just happened. Before either of them could form a coherent sentence, they saw Miss Patty hustle out of the diner door, and scurry off towards Babette's house muttering something about Eastside Tillie under her breath. Sookie glanced at the door to the diner, only to see Kirk with his face pressed up against the glass, staring intently at Lorelai.

"Um, honey?" Sookie nudged Lorelai, "we should probably move, okay?"

As Sookie grabbed her hand to pull her across the street to the square, Lorelai looked back at the diner and felt her gaze drawn to the windows of Luke's apartment upstairs. She thought that she saw some movement behind the flowery curtains, but she could not tell if it was Luke at the window. Sookie pulled Lorelai into the gazebo and prodded her to sit on the bench. Lorelai looked up, and Sookie began to pace back and forth in front of her.

Pressing her hand against her forehead, Sookie began to ramble gesturing wildly, "Oooh this could be bad, very bad. Or, on the other hand, it could be good, really good. It should be good, you know, because, hey, it's Luke, right? We like Luke. You like Luke. And Luke really likes you, so it should be good, right?" Sookie stopped and looked at Lorelai's stunned face, tears began to fill Lorelai's eyes. "Aw, honey," she said sitting beside her best friend and taking her hand, "don't cry. Everything is okay. Really it is. It's not like you didn't know that Luke was into you."

"I didn't." Lorelai answered in a small voice. "I didn't really know. "

"Come on, Lorelai. You know that isn't true. The whole world has seen it, how could you not?" Sookie said with a little frustration.

"Okay stop. I don't want to hear about what you, or any of the yentas in this town, think you see. Luke has never even hinted that he has ever wanted anything other than friendship with me!" Lorelai buried her head in her hands.

"Hey," Sookie waited until Lorelai raised her gaze to meet hers, "maybe it's crazy, maybe it's irrational, but it's there." Lorelai began to shake her head, but Sookie laid a hand along her friend's cheek to stop her. "Just look the guy in the eye," she said softly, "it's right there."

They sat quietly for a few minutes, then Sookie stood up decisively, "Now come on, it's been an eventful day. Why don't you go home and rest a bit before we leave for Chilton." Sookie pulled Lorelai up, and they began to walk toward Lorelai's house.

Once they reached the front porch, Sookie stopped and turned to Lorelai, "Honey, I'm sorry if I was a little rough on you back there, but I really think it's time for you to open your eyes. You need to see the great guy that's standing right in front of you. If you really don't want him, you know, that way, that's okay too. Just be straight with yourself, and Luke. You both deserve that, alright?"

Lorelai nodded and turned to go up the steps. As she reached for the doorknob, she turned and called out to her friend, "Sook?"

"Yeah, Sweetie?"

"It's there." Lorelai smiled ruefully, "I know it's there, but I'll be damned if I know what to do about it." Lorelai stepped into the house and closed the door quietly behind her.

Sookie crossed her fingers on both hands, and began to walk home.

Luke rushed into his apartment and slammed the door behind him. "Oh God!" he moaned. He began to frantically pace around the apartment. +His thoughts were racing.

I can't believe I said that! Did she catch that? Of course she caught that, you idiot, she'd not deaf! Oh God, what am I going to do? What do I say to her? Maybe I can move. I could go to New York, that's where you go when you don't want to be found, right? I could just blend into the crowd. Ugh, I have crowds. Maybe she'll move. No, she can't move, she has Rory to think about. Idiot! So many years! We have bantered, flirted, and fought for so many years. Why now? Why did it have to slip out now? Will I ever see her again? Will she speak to me? Maybe she'll pretend that it never happened. That would be good, wouldn't it? Lorelai is a really good pretender. Rory even calls her the Queen of Denial. But it's out there now. I let it slip out. If she ignores it, won't that hurt more? I had gotten used to the ache of my secret crush on her. Would I be able to get used to the pain of her rejection?

Luke sat on the couch and buried his face in his hands.


	3. The Question

Eventually, Luke had to return to the diner. As he made his way downstairs, he paused to take a deep breath. He stepped through the curtain to find the diner was packed with townsfolk nursing their coffee or tea. His face set in a forbidding scowl; he began to make the rounds of refills. Fearing his wrath, no one dared to say more than a polite "thank you" to him as he served them. Luke knew they were all there to observe the aftermath of his explosion, but he wasn't about to give them what they wanted. His jaw set with grim determination, he got back into his usual routine, sparing no more than a grunt or a terse "What'll you have?" for his customers. He was so single minded in his desire to ignore what happened, he never noticed the whispers and subtle exchange of monies that took place each time he entered the kitchen area.

Lorelai felt like she was running on auto-pilot. She gathered herself together, grabbed Sookie, Lane and Dean, and rushed to Chilton for Rory's performance of Romeo and Juliet. Numbly, she watched the different groups of students put their own spin on Shakespeare's classic. She tried to concentrate on the performances and the running commentary her friends were providing, but her mind was racing with thoughts of Luke.

She hadn't told Rory about the outburst in the diner earlier that day. Rory was nervous enough about tonight, there was no need to add to that. Plus, Lorelai was unsure of how Rory would feel about the possibility of her mother dating their main provider. Sookie had been unnaturally quiet on the subject since leaving the house earlier. That alone was making Lorelai a little more nervous. As the production drew to a close, congratulations were given to the players, and Rory, still high on their success, announced that they should all going to Luke's to celebrate.

Sookie saw Lorelai's eyes widen with panic. She placed a calming hand on her friend's arm as they gathered their coats. "She doesn't know, honey. It'll be okay. It's not like Luke is going to mention it, anyway. You can fill Rory in on what happened later on, but for now, we will all be there with you. We'll just go eat and leave. It will be okay, I promise." Secretly, Sookie thought that the sooner that Lorelai went back into the diner, the better. That way, this thing can be resolved once and for all, she thought to herself.

Lorelai was quiet on the way back to Stars Hollow. Sookie kept up a flow of chatter with the teenagers in the back seat to cover for her friend's silence. Once they parked, Lorelai and Sookie hung back a little to let the kids walk in front of them. Once they reached the door, Lorelai turned to Sookie with a sad little smile and said, "You know, I hate having my illusions shattered. I really like living in that happy little place in my head where everything and everyone is how I want them to be. And now, here's reality bashing me on the head again, you know? Well, here goes, wish me luck."

Squaring her shoulders, Lorelai pushed open the door to the diner. She heard Sookie mumble a quiet "Good luck." behind her as she stepped through the door.

Rory, Lane and Dean were already seated at a table by the door. She looked around to see Luke leaning against the end of the counter, tinkering with a watch. Lorelai felt like her feet were riveted to the spot. Sookie slipped in behind her, and joined the teenagers. Slowly, Lorelai took a step toward Luke, murmuring "Be right back." to her group at the table.

She approached Luke cautiously, and offered a small smile. "Hey" she said quietly.

"How'd it go?" Luke answered, trying to act disinterested.

"Oh, you know, I think Shakespeare will recover."

"That's good." he replied, still prodding the watch with a tiny screwdriver.

Lorelai looked at the floor, and clasped her hands nervously. "Hey, are you good at dating?" she asked.

"What?" He lifted his head, stunned that she was even going to bring this all up. This was not how we operate, he thought wildly, we ignore these moments and then go on like they never happened, that's how we do this, damn it!

She cocked her head to the side, "Dating, do you have that down?"

Luke set the watch down, "Okay, if this is about that kid, then…"

Lorelai held up a hand to stop him "No, it's not about anything, it's just a question."  
Luke smirked at her, trying to relieve some of the tension between them. "Well, I don't know if I have it down. Considering I live with my nephew, I'd say probably not." He drawled sarcastically.

"I don't have it down either. I've never been very good at it really. I've never even really liked it. Too much 'what if'. I like things I can count on. I mean, uh, actually, with Max, it was the first time I was finally like 'Hey, here it is, that one person who will always be there for me.' And then, I turned around, and it's suddenly 'Oops, wrong, keep moving.' Lorelai trailed off with a wave of her hand.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked seriously.

"I don't have very many people in my life who are in my life permanently forever. They will always be there for me. I will always be there for them, you know? There's Rory, and Sookie, and this town and ... you. I mean, at least I think I've got..." Lorelai paused to look him in the eye.

"You do." Luke replied quietly.

There it was. Right there in those beautiful blue eyes of his. "Good. Just checking. Were you serious earlier? You know, about me and you…"

"Lorelai, can we just forget…" Luke started, a bit of desperation making his voice crack a little.

"Because, I have thought about it." Lorelai continued undeterred. "You know, me and you…"

"You have?" Luke asked started by her revelation.

"Sure. I mean, of course I have. But you and me were different, you know? You're not just some guy that I think I might like to date. You're so much more than that. And dating, it's messy and confusing. So, yes, I have thought of you like that, but I have purposefully tried not to." Lorelai paused seeing the hope in his eyes begin to fade. She placed her hand on his arm and continued quickly. "I don't want to screw this up, Luke. You mean more to me, and to Rory, than I can say, and I am petrified that I am going to screw this up." She stopped to draw a deep breath. "So, were you serious earlier? What you said about dating you?"

"Yes." Luke replied simply.

"Okay. Okay, well, I have to tell you that I may need a little more time to think about all of this, alright?" she rambled nervously, "Can I take a few days, you know, to sort out the mess in my head?" she gestured wildly.

"Take as much time as you need." Luke replied quietly.

"Thank you. Okay, thanks." Lorelai favored him with a shaky smile.

"You'll let me know?" he asked cautiously. "When you're ready, I mean. Let me know, one way or another? Smoke signal? Ask Caesar to pass me a note? Something?"

"Oh, you'll know, mister." her grin spreading, "I will definitely let you know."

"Good." Luke said with a nod. He gestured toward the table where the others were sitting "Your coffee is probably cold. I'll get you a fresh cup." He turned to get the coffeepot and Lorelai walked over to the empty seat next to Rory.

Luke deposited her fresh cup in front of her and turned to go to the kitchen. Rory nudged Lorelai with her elbow. "You two kids were over there whispering together for a while. Anything the matter? " she asked, concerned.

Lorelai took a deep drink of her coffee, and sighed. "Well kid, it's a good thing that your done with your suicide thingy after tonight, because I think that Mommy is about to hurl herself off of a cliff."

"What?" Rory asked confused.

"Tell you later, okay? For now, let's have some pie. I think we both deserve pie." As the words were coming from her lips, Lorelai looked up to see Luke depositing slices of pie ala mode in front of each of them. He really is the perfect man, she thought to herself with a smug smile. She glanced up in time to see the corners of his mouth tilt into a smile of his own as he turned away.


	4. Fessing Up

A/N: Thank you so much for your support for this story. I think that it is shaping up well, and I appreciate all of your input!

Ch. 4 – Fessing Up

After leaving Luke's that night, Lorelai and Rory walked home in silence. Rory kept shooting concerned glances at her mother and the silly half smile that she was wearing, but Lorelai was too deep in thought to notice. They climbed the steps to the porch, and Rory turned to confront Lorelai about her odd behavior. "Okay, little Miss Cryptic Comment, you have 5 minutes to change into your comfy clothes and meet me on the couch." She pointed a finger at her mother, "Be prepared to spill, missy!" Rory turned and marched determinedly into the house and directly to her room to change.

As ordered, Lorelai went upstairs and changed into her coffee cup pajamas. She stepped into the bathroom to find a clip to pull her hair up, and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes a little brighter. I look happy, she thought reaching out to touch her reflection in the mirror. I am happy. I am happy that Luke wants to date me.

Her brow began to wrinkle into a frown, though as her thoughts turned to her daughter. Rory may not be happy about this, Lorelai thought remembering the last time she tried to broach the subject of dating Luke.

_Hey, what do you think of Luke?_

What do you mean?

I mean, do you think he's cute?

Oh, no. No way.

No way what?

You cannot date Luke.

I said nothing about dating Luke.

If you date him, you'll break up, and we'll never be able to eat there again.

I repeat, I said nothing about dating Luke.

Date Al from Pancake World, his food stinks.  


It's more than the food thing, Lorelai thought, Rory really cares for Luke, and if we do this, we could really screw things up – for all of us.

"Get a move on, Gilmore! I'm waiting!" Rory yelled up the stairs.

"I'm coming!" Lorelai yelled back as she twisted her hair into a sloppy knot and jammed the clip into place. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pajama pants and walked slowly downstairs to face her sixteen year old interrogator.

"Sit." Rory commanded from the couch. Once Lorelai was seated, Rory reached for the mug on the coffee table, and handed it to her mother.

"Cocoa?" Lorelai asked.

"Whatever is bugging you kind of seemed like a cocoa type of trouble, so I thought…" she trailed off with a wave of her hand.

"You're right. Cocoa is perfect. Thanks." Lorelai exhaled heavily, and turned to face her daughter squarely. "Luke wants to date me and I think that I want to date him." She confessed in a rush.

Rory blinked surprised by the admission. "Okay." She said slowly, "I'm hooked. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me what happened after I left for school today."

Lorelai proceeded to recount every detail of her day starting with her trip to Luke's with Sookie. Sometimes, those details became a little too minute, but Rory was able to keep her on track. Eventually, Lorelai wound down with "And then, just as I said it, there he was with the pie. Rory, I think that he may be the perfect man." She said with a grin.

Rory was silent for a moment, and Lorelai's smile began to fade again. "Hon, how do you feel about this? I mean, if it's weird or you think that it will make things too hard, then you have to tell me. Just tell me, and I will say 'Sorry mister, but I just can't date you. Thanks anyway.' I just… I just think that maybe it's time, you know? Maybe it's time for me and Luke to try to be together. We've been coming 'this close' for so long now; maybe it's time for us to try to cross that line, huh?" Lorelai paused to take a breath and Rory saw her opportunity.

"Mom. I think that you should." She said calmly, effectively shutting down Lorelai's ramble. "Luke is a great guy. But, Mom, you don't just date Luke. When you are with Luke, you are _with_ Luke. And, the whole town will know. They'll know if you're together, they'll know if you're not together. Are you ready for that?"

Lorelai stared at her hands clenched in her lap. She couldn't stop the smile that began to tug at her lips. "Oh kid, I know. It's all I could think about all day. But, along with all that, there were all of these great memories of Luke, and how great he has been to us for all of these years. He _is_ a great guy. A girl couldn't dream up a better one. And, he likes me." She finished quietly.

"Are you really happy about this?" Rory asked seriously.

"Yeah, I think I am. I was pretty stunned at first, you know? But, now, I kind of feel like screaming 'finally' at the top of my lungs. I guess that I don't have to tell you that this has been a long time coming…" Lorelai said with an unladylike snort.

"I called this one years ago." Rory nodded.

"Yeah, but Hon, last year you told me not to even think about dating Luke, you wanted me to date Al instead. I don't want to mess up your feeding schedule." Lorelai teased.

"Last year, you weren't ready for Luke." Rory said with a shrug. She sat back and tried to look at Lorelai sternly, but the grin kept trying to break through. Finally, she launched herself at her mom squealing "You're ready now! Wow! This is great! Hey, do you think that he'll give us free pie? Not that we really paid for it too often before, but maybe now it could be officially free…"

"Maybe kid." Lorelai replied, half laughing, half crying. "We should probably try to get that in writing before the actual dating begins. It could be like a dowry or something…"


	5. Permission Granted

Permission Granted

Lorelai awoke the following morning feeling surprisingly rested considering that the previous day had been an emotional roller coaster. She shuffled into the kitchen to find that Rory had already brewed a pot of coffee, so she filled her mug and took it back upstairs to get ready for the day. She was humming softly while she brushed the final coat of mascara on her lashes. She glanced up to find Rory leaning against the doorframe, a smug smile curving her lips. "Boy, someone sure is happy today." She smirked at her mother. "I guess I don't have to ask if we're going to Luke's this morning, huh?"

Lorelai blushed a little, and muttered "Senorita Smarty Pants" as she brushed past Rory to get to her closet. She pulled out her favorite baby blue sweater and some skinny black pants, and studiously ignored her daughter as she dressed. Once she had added a necklace and some earrings to the ensemble, she turned to Rory and asked "Are you ready to go?"

Rory's smile widened as she looked at her mom's flushed cheeks and sparkling blue eyes. "You betcha! Let me grab my backpack." She said as she scurried down the stairs. _I wouldn't miss this for all of the money in the world_, Rory thought to herself gleefully.

When they got to the diner the place was packed. A couple of stools opened at the counter, so they hurried over to snag them before anyone else could. "Geez, what's going on today?" Lorelai asked, bewildered by the crowd, "It looks like practically the whole town is here."

Rory looked around and spotted Miss Patty and Babette at the corner table. On further inspection, she saw that Eastside Tillie, Kirk, Sookie & Jackson, Andrew, Gypsy, Reverend Skinner and the Rabbi were also dining at Luke's that morning. She opened her eyes wide and gazed at Lorleai innocently and said "I don't know, Mom, why do you think everyone is here?"

Lorelai stared at her daughter and began to scan the crowd. It was just becoming clear to her when she heard Luke's familiar growl behind her. "What'll you have?"

She turned to him with a dazzling smile. "Well, since you ask so nicely, Rory and I would like to start with some coffee, please. Oh, a menu, too, please."

"A menu?" he asked incredulous "Don't you have it all memorized yet?"

"Well, today, I would like to peruse my options." She replied simply.

"This is not a day for perusing. This is a day when you order quickly, so I can move on. I don't know if you noticed or not, but every nut job in this town has decided that they need to have their breakfast at Luke's today, so could you just tell me what you want?" he ranted.

"Blueberry muffin and coffee!" Rory piped up immediately.

"Suck up!" Lorelai sneered at Rory. "Luke, I would like to look at a menu, because I don't know what I am in the mood to have today, and sometimes, just reading it gives me an idea…" she was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone.

"Out!" Luke bellowed, pointing toward the door. He spun away to grab a muffin for Rory while Lorelai slowly made her way to the door with the phone pressed to her ear. She listened for a minute then sighed and closed the phone just as she was reaching for the door handle. Walking back to the counter, Lorelai grabbed her purse and pulled out a few dollars to hand to Rory.

"I gotta go. Michel is coming unglued about some guest, and I have to go calm them both down." She dropped a quick kiss on Rory's head "I'll see you later kiddo." She called as she walked away.

Luke came out of the kitchen in time to see Lorelai pull the door closed behind her. He delivered the orders he was holding, then walked over to refill Rory's coffee cup. "What, was she mad about the menu thing?" he asked Rory, only half joking.

"No – inn crisis. She had to go stand between Michel and a guest. Don't worry, I'm sure she will be back in today." Rory looked up and gave Luke the full force smile.

"What?" he asked cautiously.

"Big day yesterday, huh?" Rory said sweetly, "It's too bad you couldn't make it. Mom told me she invited you."

"Uh, yeah, she did. Sorry, I couldn't get away." Luke replied, nervously wiping his hands on the towel that he carried.

"I understand. She said that you had some things to sort out." She answered with a knowing nod.

"Rory," Luke leaned in to speak to her quietly. "You may have heard…"

"Oh yeah. I heard. I heard it all, mister." Rory answered with a teasing grin.

Luke stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets to still them. "I bet." He sighed.

Rory took pity on him and leaned forward to whisper to him "Luke, its okay. You know, what happened with Mom yesterday, I've been waiting for it to happen."

His eyes opened wide with shock "You have?"

"Well, yeah, I have." She shrugged, "I have to know, though, how come you never just asked her out?"

"Well, that would have been easier, wouldn't it?" he laughed at himself mockingly, then, sobered quickly. "But what if she said 'no'?" he asked softly, as if questioning himself.

She pulled out the cash that Lorelai had given her and laid it on the counter. As she gathered her things she shook her head a bit at the two of them and their doubts. "Well, I can't say what she would have said before, but you've got her thinking now, if that's any consolation." She offered with a smile.

"Thanks." Luke replied with a nod. He picked up the bills from the counter and handed them back to her. "Happy Free Muffin Day."

Rory shook her head as she pocketed the cash. "Thanks, Luke, that does make it a happy day!" she said. "I'll see you later." She called as she dashed to catch her bus.


	6. Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals

Lorelai sauntered into the diner at about 11:30 that morning expecting to catch the end of the mid-morning lull, and hoping to catch Luke in a good mood. She was stunned when she glanced around the room. Apparently, the breakfast crowd had decided to camp for the day. Shaking her head at their dedication to their gossip, Lorelai made her way to the single stool open at the counter. Caesar came hustling over to fill a mug for her and to take her order. Lorelai asked for a burger and onion rings and waited for Luke to appear.

Her food arrived a few minutes later, still no Luke. When Lorelai was about done eating, Caesar stopped by to top off her coffee. "Hey Caesar, where's the boss man at?" she called.

"Oh, he had to go into Harford this afternoon. Meeting at the bank, or something." Caesar replied.

"I see" Lorelai replied dejectedly. She dawdled over her last few fries trying to get past her disappointment, when catching sight of Caesar writing down a customer's order gave her an idea. She slipped down to the register and grabbed a blank sheet from the order pad sitting on the counter. Gnawing at the inside of her cheek, she hastily scribbled a note, folded the paper into fourths, and gathered her belongings to leave. She stood at the register waiting for Caesar to come over to take her money. Lorelai handed him a wad of bills and the note. "Would you mind making sure that Luke gets this for me, please?" she asked quietly.

"Sure thing." Caesar replied happily as Lorelai turned to leave. Looking at the folded up paper, Caesar decided it would be safer to put it into the cash drawer, so that he would not lose it in the diner shuffle. Slamming the drawer closed, he promptly forgot about the note.

All that afternoon, Lorelai waited for the phone to ring. She listened for it while she got dressed to go to Friday night dinner at her parent's house. She kept her cell at hand during the drive to Hartford. She switched it to vibrate and hid it in a pocket during dinner. The minute she and Rory got into the Jeep to drive home, she checked for missed calls, none. When they walked into the dark house that night, the answering machine light glared steadily. No new messages. She grabbed the portable and her cell and headed upstairs to take a long, hot bath before getting ready for bed. Finally, at 11:30, she gave up, placed both phones on the night table and tried to drift off to sleep.

Luke didn't get back from Hartford until almost 4:00 that afternoon. The diner was overrun with little girls in pink tutus trying to get a snack before the recital that Miss Patty was hosting that evening. It seemed that they had just ushered the last prima ballerina in training out the door when the usual Friday dinner rush began. Caesar left as the crowd thinned, forgetting to mention Lorelai's note shoved under some twenties stuffed into the till. By 9:00, the place was packed with fans coming to have a victory slice of pie after the basketball game. It was 11:00 by the time everyone was fed, the diner cleaned, chairs were placed on top of the tables, and pulling the drawer from the register, Luke trudged upstairs. He was a little relieved to find that Jess was still out, and he was able to have the apartment to himself for a bit. Too tired to deal with the days receipts, Luke placed them and the cash drawer in the safe, telling himself he would take care of it all first thing in the morning. He brushed his teeth, washed his face and fell into bed wondering if Lorelai had come back in during the day, and if he just missed her.

_I can't believe he didn't call me! _That was Lorelai's first thought upon waking. _Maybe he didn't understand the meaning of my note. How could he not understand? Could he really be that slow? Maybe he didn't get my note. Maybe Caesar stuck it in his pocket and forgot about it. Or, maybe he decided that he didn't want to date me after all. _Lorelai frowned as she shuffled downstairs to start the coffeemaker. _No, he wouldn't change his mind in one day, would he? Why not? I changed my mind in one day when I found out that he wanted to, didn't I? _She pulled a Pop Tart from the box and began to methodically break it into tiny pieces, which never made their way to her mouth.

Luke pulled the drawer and yesterdays tickets from the safe. He pulled the cash from the drawer and began to face and count the bills. As he was counting twenties, a small, folded piece of paper fell out of the stack. He unfolded it and found Lorelai loopy scrawl coving an order ticket.

_**Luke,**_

_**So if a girl liked a guy, and she was pretty sure that he liked her back, how would she go about getting this guy to finally ask her out? Call me and let me know what you think…**_

_**Lorelai**_

Damn, he'd missed her. He never even got the chance to call her last night. _I hope that she's not mad. _

Later that morning, showered, fluffed, and glossed, fortified by coffee and mortified by the senseless destruction of the poor Pop Tart. Lorelai set off for Luke's Diner determined to confront the owner about his intentions.

Once again, the place was crowded, so she took an open stool at the counter. As Luke emerged from the kitchen, plates in hand, she called to him "Hey Luke! It's getting kind of hard to get a table in this joint. I think you need a preferred customer seating policy."

He glanced over annoyed, but relieved that she was here. "Pipe down! You've got a seat. I'll be with you in a minute."

She sighed, and toyed with her purse strap while she waited. Jess came by and placed a cup of coffee in front of her, and without saying a word moved on to another customer. Luke rushed behind the counter, wiping his hands on a towel. "Hey" he smiled at her.

"Hey yourself" she smiled back at him.

Luke glanced around to busy diner nervously, "Um, you eating?"

A little startled by how mesmerized she had been by his smile, Lorelai gave her head a little shake to clear it. "Sure" she said "French toast and sausage, please."

"You got it." he said disappearing into kitchen.

When he didn't come back out after placing her order, she stopped Jess on his way to retrieve the coffeepot. "Hey, is Luke cooking today?"

"Yeah." he replied tersely. "Caesar's off." He said as he grabbed a full pot and started to make the refill rounds.

Lorelai waited for her food, her nerves kicking it up a notch in anticipation of the conversation she wanted to have with Luke. Jess slapped another ticket on the kitchen counter when he replaced the coffee pot. She heard Luke call "Order up!" A few seconds later, Jess dropped her breakfast plate in front of her while he refilled her cup without a word. Lorelai tried to eat slowly, trying to outlast the other diners, hoping for the onset of the mid-morning lull, but she was not having much success. Occasionally, Luke would dart from the kitchen, take care of some problem, glance over to make sure that she was still there, and dart back into the kitchen. Eventually, she began to lose patience.

"Hey Luke!" she called back into the kitchen.

"Hang on!" he called back to her "I'm busy!"

The diner was finally clearing out. She sat back down and drummed her fingers on the counter. After another minute, she tried again. "Luke, I really need to talk to you!"

"I'll be out in a little bit, I have orders to fill!"

Lorelai glanced around and saw only one table for two waiting for food, so she waited, fidgeting with a napkin. A minute later, she saw Jess emerge from the kitchen with the plates, but no Luke. Another minute passed, and finally she began rummaging in her purse. Finally, she located a pack of matches. She strolled around the end of the counter and peered into the kitchen. She saw Luke bustling around trying to straighten the equipment and ingredients that were covering the work area near the grill. "Okay, you asked for it." she mumbled as she struck a match and held it up near the paper napkin.

"Oh, Luke" she called teasingly from the kitchen doorway.

He spun around and his jaw dropped in shock when he saw what she was doing. He closed the distance between them in two long strides, and blew out the match she was holding up threateningly. "Are you nuts? What are you trying to do?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm trying to send you a smoke signal." She replied with a brilliant grin.


	7. Kryptonite

Kryptonite

Luke stared at Lorelai in disbelief, his hand still gripping her wrist, the extinguished match smoldering between them.

"You are crazy." He hissed.

"Luke," she began to explain "I have been trying to get your attention for the last 24 hours! You told me to let you know when I was ready to talk about, well, you know… Anyway, I tried to tell you yesterday morning, but Michel called and I had to leave. I came back at lunch, but you were gone. I passed a note to Caesar like you told me to, but it got me nowhere, so I figured that the smoke signal was my last resort!"

Luke shook his head, trying to keep up with her reasoning, and trying to keep the smile that was twitching is lips from breaking through. He glanced over her shoulder and saw Miss Patty and Babette chatting on the sidewalk, stealing glances at them through the diner window. Luke released Lorelai's wrist abruptly and stepped back from her. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and stared around the diner. It was empty except for the lone table of diners and Jess sitting at the far end of the counter, pretending to read a book, but clearly listening to their conversation.

"I have to get some supplies from the storeroom." He said shortly, stepped around Lorelai, and started for the back room. Jess studiously stared at his book when Luke passed. Lorelai looked after him with her mouth agape. Luke turned around at the end of the counter, looked at Lorelai pointedly and jerked his head in the direction of the storeroom, clearly indicating that she should follow him.

Lorelai turned to grab her purse from the counter and mumbled something about using the bathroom when she passed by the spot where Jess was sitting. She stepped into the storeroom to find Luke staring at the floor, shoulder hunched, his hands still firmly planted in his pockets. "Luke?" she asked softly. His head jerked up, and she saw the look of relief cross his face, almost as if he thought she wouldn't follow him.

"I didn't get your note until this morning. Caesar must have stuck it in the register, and he forgot to tell me about it. I'm sorry. I didn't find it until this morning, or I would have called." He explained in a rush.

"It's okay." She said "I was just afraid that you had changed you mind."

"No." he said definitively, "Will you have dinner with me tonight? Or tomorrow if tonight's too soon. Whatever. I mean, whenever is good for you…" he trailed off awkwardly.

"Tonight's good. I think Rory is staying at Lane's tonight, so I should be free." She replied with a smile.

"Good. Good. I just," he started and then stopped. "I just don't want to talk about this in front of the whole town, you know? I think that I have given them enough of a floor show for one week, don't you think?"

Lorelai laughed and his heart leapt. "Boy, you sure did. Just like opening a can of worms with a chainsaw."

He smiled sheepishly and blushed a little. "Well, you know, everyone must have been pretty stunned. I am known for my cool head, and reasonable manner. They are probably wondering what could possibly have turned me into a raving lunatic." He said sarcastically.

"Yep." She replied happily, "Now we know that it's me. I am your kryptonite, Clark baby!"

"Yes, you are." He replied softly.

"Pick me up at 7?" she asked, touching his arm gently.

"You bet." He answered, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Now, hand over the matches."

Lorelai laughed and shook her head as walked out of the storeroom together "No way! I may need those in case I need to light a fire under you again!"

They stopped abruptly and looked into the packed diner, shaking their heads in awe and disbelief.

"Man, that Patty, she's good." Luke muttered.


	8. The Chatterley's

**A/N: Wow – my second chapter today. It seems to be pouring out onto the page. What do you think? I am not sure how I am going to wrap this up yet, but I appreciate your reviews and input.**

The Chatterley's

As they settled into the truck, Lorelai turned to Luke "So where are we going? Am I going to get the patented Luke Danes date, you know, juice bar and batting cages?" she said batting her eyes at him.

Luke laughed. _I need to make him do that more often_, she thought as the sound sent shivers down her spine. "No, I left my batting love at home." He said, "I thought we would go to this little Italian place in Woodbury if that's okay. It's quiet, casual, alright?"

"Sounds great." Lorelai replied with a contented smile.

The drive to Woodbury was easy, filled with Luke's commentary on the crazy townies that had been stalking the diner for the last couple of days. He noted that they were lucky, because he saw Babette come into the diner just as he was slipping out the back to pick Lorelai up, so she was not home to witness him picking her up at her house. Apparently, he also caught Kirk hanging around trying to listen to his conversations each time the diner phone rang. He would then relay whatever information he had gathered to those sitting at the tables. Therefore, half of Star's Hollow was aware that Taylor had ordered a turkey on wheat sandwich for dinner, and Mrs. Slutsky was disappointed that Luke was out of meatloaf, because she had such a taste for it. Lorelai was able to avoid all of the scrutiny by holing up in her house all afternoon with Rory enjoying a Cop Rock marathon.

They arrived at the restaurant, and were promptly seated at a small table for two lit with a drippy candle. "It's not very fancy," Luke shrugged apologetically, "but the food is really good here."

"It's perfect." She reassured him by reaching over to squeeze his fingers across the table.

The action caught Luke's gaze. As he stared at her hand on his, Lorelai began to feel a little embarrassed at being so forward, so she began to pull her hand away. Before she could, he turned his over and caught her hand in his. He lifted his eyes to meet hers. "I just can't believe that we are finally here." He said softly.

Lorelai blushed and looked at their joined hands. "It's good, though, isn't it?" she asked a little unsure.

He gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it. "It's very good." He said simply.

They stared at each other, grinning like the fools that they were, until the waiter stopped to take their drink orders. They busied themselves with their menus, discussed their different options, and were ready to order by the time their waiter returned with their drinks.

Once the business of ordering was dispatched, they fell silent for a moment, each wondering where to begin. Lorelai began to push the stem of her wine glass around in little circles on the table cloth. Finally she cleared her throat a little and softly asked "Luke, how come you never asked me out before?"

Tracing his finger through the condensation on his beer glass, Luke was reluctant to meet her eyes. "I just, I figured that you probably wouldn't want to go out with a guy like me." He said with a shrug.

"A guy like you? What does that mean? You're one of my best friends. You're probably one of the best people I know. Why would you think I go out with you?" she said sincerely.

"Well, I guess I thought that you just saw me as a friend, you know, not like someone you would want to date. Plus, you tend to go out with guys who are a little more, I don't know, polished or something" he let the thought trail off.

"You know, I asked Rory what she thought about me dating you about a year ago." She confessed.

Luke raised his eyes, shocked, "You did?"

"Yeah, she, of course forbade it. I think she was afraid that if it didn't work out we would starve. She told me to date Al instead. I don't think she has a lot of faith in my ability to sustain a relationship. Of course, I have proven her right over and over again." She said disparagingly.

"I almost asked you out the night that you came in with Sookie and Jackson and that Loon guy." Luke confessed.

"Ah, Rune, now he was a treasure. Really?" she asked.

"Well, I figured that he might not appreciate your ability to reach things on high shelves, but I think it's great. But then, Mrs. Kim came in, and you had to leave, and the moment was kind of gone. I lost my nerve."

"I think that was around the time that Rory told me that we couldn't date." Lorelai mused.

"Yeah, well, then Christopher showed up, and then Rachel came back, and then Max came into the picture, so I guess that our timing hasn't been the best." Luke chuckled ruefully.

"Yeah." Lorelai replied wistfully. "Luke, I have to tell you something." she said leaning forward and frowning a bit. Luke moved forward also to encourage her to continue. "I think that I got back together with Max because Rachel came back to you." She said in a rush.

"What?' he asked, stunned.

"Well, Rachel came back, and you were so happy. I mean, I thought that you were happy. And, I was a little jealous. I mean you had someone, Sookie had someone, I was lonely, and I knew that Max still liked me, so I went to see him, and we ended up getting together again. I guess that I didn't really put a lot of thought into it at the time, but things just kind of steamrolled from there."

Luke sat back in his chair, digesting what she had just told him. He smiled and shook his head a bit. "Lorelai, I never told you, but when Rachel left, it was because she knew that I wanted to be with you. As a matter of fact, that night when I came to your house, I was going to tell you. She told me not to wait too long to tell you, and for once, I was going to listen. Then Max showed up, so I left, and the next thing I know, he is sending you a boatload of daisies, and you're engaged to him. I just figured that I have waited too long, after all."

Lorelai was amazed at what he just told her. She reached out to take his hand. "This is incredible. Do you know why Max proposed to me? Because we were in a fight over you. I thought that we should break up, and he thought that we should get married. How's that for a way to stop an argument?" she asked incredulously.

"But you said yes to him." Luke interjected.

"Of course I said yes. Max was a great guy, smart, funny, caring and kind. I didn't want to break up, so getting engaged was my other option. I just didn't think much about the marriage part of that." She laughed bitterly, "But you sure did, my friend." She said sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked a little taken aback.

"Where's the coupon drawer? Do you want kids? Does he really need three newspapers? Will he make you eat French food? You were in my head, like a surly Jiminy Crickett, asking me all these annoying, and entirely valid questions. And then, you built me that beautiful chuppah. I realized that night that I couldn't marry Max. I didn't want a marriage with him, I wanted to be swept up in a romance. I didn't want a relationship with sets of keys and someone second guessing my parenting decisions, I wanted someone to amuse and admire me."

Luke sat quietly digesting all that she had told him. He waited until she raised her eyes to meet his. He saw the regret and pain in them, and ached to take it away.

Lorelai straightened her shoulders, and looked Luke squarely in the eye. "He didn't deserve what I did to him. Don't you see? If I could do that to Max, what would keep me from doing that to you? That's why I couldn't think about you as anything more than my friend. I need to be honest with you, Luke, if this doesn't work out, I am not sure if I can bear not having you in my life. I thought that if I never let if start, it could never end. Things would be safe that way." She looked away as she felt her eyes fill with tears, furiously, she blinked them back.

Just then, their waiter appeared with their entrees, so that allowed Lorelai a moment to gather herself together. After they assured him that they had everything that they needed, Lorelai touched Luke's hand to get his attention. "Pretty deep first date conversation, huh? Maybe while were eating we should try to keep it to simpler things, 'like what's your favorite color?' and stuff, huh?"

Luke smiled at her, relieved to take a break from their 'true confessions' session. "Blue, like your eyes." He answered directly.

"Oh! Mr. Danes, you are such a smooth operator. Does that work with all the girls?" Lorelai said batting her eyes at him.

"Yes." He answered simply, and picked up his utensils to cut into his entrée. Lorelai laughed at his deadpan expression, but then Luke looked up through his lashes at her with a devilish grin and said, "It surely does."

A little stunned by how sexy he looked, Lorelai confessed breathily "I can believe it."

This time Luke laughed, and her heart flipped over. _God I love his laugh! _"I told you a long time ago, that you weren't the only one who could flirt."

They finished their meal bantering and flirting, trying to keep things light. Lorelai ordered a slice of cheesecake for dessert, which she kept trying to get Luke to eat. He took one bite from her fork to appease her, but that only seemed to fuel her need to stuff him with dessert. As he waved off her forth attempt to feed him, he captured her free hand in both of his and spoke intently. "Lorelai, I know that we both have a lot of baggage from our previous relationships, but I want you to know something." He watched as she placed the fork on her plate and looked back at him curiously. "I just want you to know, that I am not worried about you hurting me. I know that you wouldn't do it intentionally, and I think we both know each other well enough to call each other on our faults. What I am scared of is not trying this, because someday it may be too hard, or it may hurt. I don't want to walk away without trying to make it work, okay?"

Lorelai nodded, for once in her life, Luke Danes had made her speechless.

"Okay." He said with finality, "Now, finish your cheesecake, and let's get on with our evening, alright?"

For the first time that Luke can ever remember, Lorelai pushed her half eaten dessert away from her, and said "I'm done. What do we do now?"

"What would you like to do?" he asked.

"Well, I don't want to have to deal with a lot of people around and stuff. I want us to be able to keep talking. Good, bad and ugly, I think that it's important that we both know where we are with this whatever it is…"

"Relationship." He supplied easily.

"Relationship. Right. So, Mr. Danes, would you like to come over and see my etchings?" she asked in a throaty voice.

"Why, Miss Gilmore," he feigned shock, "Are you trying to get me alone?"

"Yep." She responded cheekily, "my daughter's gone for the night, I have the house to myself, can I interest you in a nightcap?" she asked in a sultry voice.

Luke turned in his seat searching for their waiter, when he spotted him leaving a table nearby, he waved at him and said "Check please!"


	9. This Thing We're Doing

This Thing We're Doing

They chatted easily on the drive back to Star's Hollow. When they were just outside of town, Luke slowed the truck and pulled over to the side of the road. Lorelai looked over at him curiously and smirked "This is an odd place you picked to go parkin', Mr. Smooth Operator."

"I just," he started as he turned toward her in his seat, "I just wanted to be sure that you were sure about this. I mean, me coming over tonight. Babette is sure to be home by now, and she'll see my truck parked there."

"Oh." Lorelai said quietly. "Do you not want people to know that we are seeing each other?" she asked timidly.

Luke snorted a bit when he laughed. "I think it's a little late for secrecy on my part! I just want to be sure that you're okay with it. They're going to be watching our every move, you know." He warned.

Lorelai smiled over at him. "God, I hope not. Remind me to close the blinds when we get there!"

"Lorelai, I'm serious." He said shaking his head at her response, "You know what this town is like. They will be asking you questions, they'll ask me, they'll bug Rory. We will be the main topic of conversation, until something bright and shiny comes along to distract them. Hell," he began to rant, "they will probably know more about what goes on between us than we will. They way they have been stalking the diner for the past couple of days, I wouldn't be surprised if those lunatics start going through our trash…"

Lorelai smiled and placed her hand gently on his check to calm him. "I don't care. I don't care what they say or do, okay? First of all, from what I have heard, I think they want this to happen as much as I do, and I hope you do. Second, I promise not to throw away any of the epic love poems that I am sure you will start penning for me, that way they won't have anything to dumpster dive for. And third, well, I don't have a third, but I have to tell you something. I love it when you rant."

Lorelai leaned across the seat and kissed him softly on the lips. Luke sat for a moment, trying to absorb the fact that Lorelai Gilmore had just kissed him. He blinked at her slowly as he began to lean toward her to kiss her again, but Lorelai placed her hand on his chest to hold him back. "Whoa, steady on, mister. You're supposed to be taking me home, not making moves on me in your big man-truck." She teased. When she saw the disappointment flicker in his eyes, and she gentled her tone, "We'll be there in a minute. You have to see my etchings, remember?" Luke threw the truck into gear and mashed the accelerator, throwing Lorelai back into her seat. Her squeal of laughter was contagious as they sped for her house.

Once they parked the truck, Luke hopped out to open her door for her. He came to her door, and Lorelai said "You don't have to do that, you know." as he helped her from the truck.

Luke gazed down at her and replied quietly "Yes I do. My mom told me that is what a man does when he escorts a lady out for the evening."

Lorelai looked into his blue eyes and tried to keep her knees from buckling beneath her.

"Your mom was a very smart lady." She said, mesmerized.

He guided her gently toward the house with his hand at the small of her back. They climbed the stairs and Lorelai pulled her key from her purse. Luke took it from her, and unlocked the front door, opening it for her, he ushered her in. Lorelai dropped her purse on the hall table and slid out of her jacket. Hanging it on the hall rack, she turned and favored him with a dazzling smile. She tugged on his lapel, urging him to remove his coat. Luke complied, his gaze never leaving her face. Lorelai stepped closer to him and tipped her head up to look him in the eye, "I would say that your mama taught you well." She flirted with a faint southern drawl.

He grinned wolfishly, pushed his hand into her mass of dark curls and leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her soft lips. When they parted, Lorelai blinked rapidly, her mind racing. _Oh my! Who knew that Luke Danes could be this sexy? I mean, I knew he was sexy, but seriously, this? I think I may pass out._ Luke simply smiled at her and her mind slowed, _Nope, I'm good. No swooning here. All is well. All is perfect._

Lorelai stepped back, and turned toward the kitchen. "Would you like a beer?" she called.

"Beer would be good." He said following her.

_Good and cold_, he thought_, something needs to cool this down. What are we doing here? I mean, are we really going to move this fast?_ He sat down at the kitchen table and stared at his hands as she grabbed their drinks. _Does she think that I expect her to sleep with me tonight? Oh God! Sleep with Lorelai!_ Luke's heart started racing as she slid into the chair across from him. She looked at him unconsciously wringing his hands, not even noticing the beer that she had placed before him.

"Luke?" she called softly, "Luke, what's wrong?"

His head jerked up, and before he could stop them the words tumbled from his mouth. "I don't think that we should sleep together yet." Lorelai sat back in her chair stunned, as he continued. "I mean, I want to. Boy, I really want to. And, I know that you have the house to yourself tonight. And I don't even know if that's what you meant when you said that you wanted me to come back here with you, but if it was, I don't know what to do."

She was about to lay into him about his expectations for the evening, but when she looked into his eyes, she saw the desperation in them, pleading with her to understand, so she stayed quiet for a moment. Luke was not sure how to interpret her uncharacteristic silence, so he rushed to fill the void. Realizing how his words must have sounded, he pushed away from the table and stood to pace the kitchen as he spoke. "I didn't mean for that to sound the way it probably sounded. Lorelai…" he rubbed his hands together nervously, "Lorelai, I think that you are the most beautiful woman I have ever known. I think you know that I am physically attracted to you, so that is not the issue here."

Luke rubbed his hands over his face as he dropped back into the chair across from her. "I know that we have always flirted and teased each other a lot, that's our thing, and I love it. I really do. But, now we are in new territory, and I am not sure where the lines are drawn anymore, you know. I mean, my mind is full of all this stuff!" he said gesturing wildly, "Do I get to touch her now? Do I get to kiss her now? You know, when you are first dating someone, there are all these signals and stuff, but hell! we've been use those for years, so how am I supposed to know what to do?"

"Luke, it's alright." She said trying to calm him, she got up to move over to him.

"I'm an idiot! I feel like a 16 year old boy without a clue! And yet, I keep going with this humiliation! Lorelai, why can't I make my mouth stop running? I mean, you should know what to do about this, right? Your mouth is always…" Lorelai helped him the most effective way she could think of. She kissed him firmly and passionately.

When they parted, Luke looked down at her and smirked "Well, that worked." He stated dryly, "I'll have to remember that, for future reference." He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her into a tight hug. As they held each other, swaying slightly from side to side, he kissed the top of her head and sighed a soft "Sorry." into her hair.

"Nothing to be sorry about." She spoke against his neck. Feeling his pulse beginning to slow again, she couldn't resist, she pressed her lips gently to the spot, only to feel it jump instantly. Smiling, she pulled back to look him in the eye. "What do you say we take these beers, and move into the living room?" He nodded, and grabbed both of their bottles as they moved from the kitchen arm in arm.

Once they settled on the couch, she turned to him and said calmly "Okay, let's see if we can't sort some of those questions out, huh? We'll start small. The flirting, I love it too, but I can see how it can be confusing at this point in our relationship. So, let's just say that we try to be a little more conscious of what we are saying to each other right now. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Yes." Luke replied with a decisive nod.

"Alright, the touching and kissing thing. I am going to have to answer a big 'yes, please' on that one, although I will say that I am not big on the public display thing." She sat back looking at him with her head cocked and continued "I'm guessing that you probably feel that same way about the public pawing." He nodded again. "Good, but in private, I would like to state for the record, that I am all for the touching and kissing."

"Me too." He said.

"Good, my monosyllabic man is back. You were scaring me with your verbosity there for a minute. Okay, finally the big one. As for my expectations for the end of our evening, I really don't know what they were, but I think that you are right. I think that we need to take things slowly. That may be a little more difficult for us than for a couple who were just getting to know each other, because we already have the history and the attraction in place, but I think it's a good idea. I am attracted to you too, Luke. And I really look forward to, shall we say, the physical side of our relationship. But, I do agree that we should wait until we are both more comfortable with being an 'us', you know?"

"Thank you." He said quietly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to his side. They sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying being near each other. Lorelai could hear Luke's heart beating though his sweater, and the sound gave her a sense of calm she had never felt before. _I am falling for Luke!_ she thought. _I am falling for my best friend._

"Lorelai." She felt his voice rumbling through his chest. "I have to tell you something." She sat up slowly to look at him. He took her hand in his and ran his thumb gently over the back of it as he looked at her reassuringly. She nodded for him to go on. "This thing were doing here, you, me, I just want you to know that I am in. I'm all in."

Lorelai simply kissed him on the lips and returned her head to his chest sighing "Me too, Luke, me too."

They sat quietly, Luke casually brushing his hand over her soft curls. After a few minutes, Lorelai lifted her head and asked "So, it's still early, you wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure." He replied.

"Okay!" she jumped up to peruse her DVD collection. She pulled out Footloose and waved it at him. Luke groaned and shook his head. "No, Luke, its perfect!" she exclaimed while she loaded the disc into the machine, "I've seen it a million times and you have no interest in it."

"How does that make it perfect?" ha asked as she settled back onto the couch and cuddled up to him.

"Well, that way, neither of us will care about what we miss while were necking!" she pulled back and grinned at him triumphantly.

He smiled back at her and brushed her hair back behind her ear. "You're right it's perfect." He said as he leaned n to kiss her.


	10. Behold the Power of Pancakes

**A/N: Please note that I have changed the rating on this story, because it is evolving into something a little more mature than I originally intended. However, I will not be writing any heavy duty smut in this one. Here is one more, a short update before the weekend. I probably won't be able to write more until next week. Thanks for reading and your continued support.**

Behold the Power of Pancakes

And there was necking. Lots of necking. Sometimes it got a little heated, and they had to retreat to opposite ends of the couch, but it was never long before one began to inch closer to the other as if caught in their gravitational pull.

Kevin Bacon was really doing his best to make Luke care about whether that silly town out in some prairie-like state had their prom or not, but he was failing miserably. It was hard to care when he had Lorelai's perfume surrounding him. It was hard to care when he could feel her every breath. It was hard to care when he could touch her soft skin, and run his fingers through her mass of curls. And, he really couldn't care less about it when she was leaning over him, pressing her soft curves against him, and allowing him to kiss her. Kiss her lips, her face, her neck. Kiss her a lot. Repeatedly. And then some.

Finally, Lorelai literally flung herself back against the cushions opposite him, panting from their most recent, and most heated, session of making out like teenagers. She pointed at him accusingly, "Don't come near me!" Frantically, she pushed her hair back from her eyes in time to see the look of panic cross his features. "Oh, Luke, I didn't mean it like that." she said realizing that he thought that he had offended her. She knelt on the cushion next to him and reached out to stroke his cheek. When is dark blue eyes met hers, she whispered "God, I want you." His eyes widened with awareness, then he took her hand from his cheek and brought it to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand, looked up at her and whispered "Ditto" to her before turning her hand over and pressing his lips to her palm.

Lorelai's mouth dropped before she pulled her hand away and stood up from the couch and began to pace in front of him. "So much for all that talk about waiting until we were more comfortable in the relationship, huh? All I want to do is drag you up those stairs right now!" Luke smiled that cocky little smile that both aroused and incensed her. "Don't look so smug! I could have my way with you if I wanted, mister. I could make that Dudley Do-Right resolve of your crumble like a cracker, if I wanted to!" she said with a knowing smirk.

"Well, we know that you are right about that." He growled back at her, rubbing his hands over his face. He hung his head over his knees for a moment, then looked up at her with regret. "I should probably go home."

Her response was instantaneous, "No! Don't go. Not yet."

He stood up and walked over to stand in front of her. Taking both of her hands in his, he said "Lorelai, if I stay any longer, we could end up doing something we could both regret." He pressed his forehead against hers as he continued "I don't want that. I don't want there to be any regret or doubt or anything else like that between us."

"You know, I am starting to think that it's really going to suck to have a boyfriend that is so good all of the time." she said petulantly.

He laughed as her pulled back and tipped her chin up to look at him. "Oh, I can be bad, believe me." He said still laughing at her pout. "But I will promise you this, Lorelai Gilmore, when I am bad, you will appreciate it that much more."

Shocked and delighted at his playfulness, Lorelai pressed a dismayed hand to her cheek. "Mr. Danes! What are you implying?"

"I didn't imply, Miss Gilmore, I promised." He said gazing at her intently. "Now, walk me to the door like a good girl, and I promise to make you chocolate chip pancakes when you come to see me at the diner in the morning."

"Hah! What makes you think that I am coming to see you tomorrow?" she said with mock scorn.

"You will." He returned, pecking her lightly on the lips and pulling her toward the front door with him. "I have the coffee, and you need the coffee, remember?"

"I hate that you have such power over me!" she crossed her arms across her chest and continued to pout.

He pulled on his coat, and turned to her. "Considering that it's only about a tenth of the power that you have over me, I would think that you could learn to deal with it." He leaned in to kiss her again.

"I had a great time tonight." She said when they pulled apart.

"Me too." He said as he kissed her again with more passion. With a groan, he pulled away and rubbed his knuckles over her cheek. She reached up to hold his hand there. "Good night, Lorelai" he said softly, "Have sweet dreams."

"Good night, Luke." She whispered back. "I will have sweet dreams. Chocolate chip pancakes and you, yum."

He gave her one last laugh as he walked out the door, down the steps and across the lawn. When he reached his truck, he turned to see her gazing at him from the doorway. She raised her hand to touch it to her lips, as she turned to close the door. He couldn't help himself, he called out to her "Make sure you turn the lock!" Lorelai just rolled her eyes at him, and let the door click firmly between them.

Luke climbed into his truck and started it up. Glancing around as her put it in gear, he decided it was best to leave his headlights off until her got past Babette and Morey's house. Just in case.

The next morning, Lorelai all but swaggered into the diner. The door had not even closed behind her when she began calling in a singsong voice "Lucas! Oh, Lucas! I'm here for my special pancakes!" She heard a snort and a giggle to her right, and when she looked over she saw Miss Patty and Babette trying to stifle their glee. "Good morning Patty! Good morning, Babette! My, aren't you two chipper this morning!" she said smiling down at them.

"Apparently, we're not the only ones, Sugar!" Babette said in her raspy voice. "You look mighty perky yourself this morning!"

Patty leaned over conspiratorially, "Tell me, dear, was it as good as I have imagined it would be?" she said with a broad wink.

"I have no idea what you mean, Patty." Lorelai said, her eyes wide with innocence.

"Come now, dear, Babette saw his truck parked at your house last night. It was still there when she and Morey turned in, and you know that they are not early birds. Tell us, we're dying to know." Patty said in a breathy voice.

Lorelai leaned over the table and said "Sorry girls, nothing hot and heavy to tell you, it was just dinner and a movie. But, stay tuned, you never know!" she said with a wink back at them. Just then Luke emerged from behind the curtain covering the stairs to his apartment. He eyed her chatting with Miss Patty and Babette, and began to approach with caution.

Lorelai sauntered over to the counter to meet him. "Hi!" she said brightly, favoring him with a dazzling smile, which he could not help but return.

"Hi yourself." He replied a little startled when she leaned over the counter with her lips pursed for a kiss. He quickly obliged, but blushed deeply as he busied himself with getting her a mug of coffee. "Here's your morning poison." He said, his cheeks still pinkish.

"Sorry." She whispered across the counter. "I didn't think. I was just happy to see you."

"It's okay." He whispered back, "I liked it, it will just take a little getting used to…" he trailed off as Kirk cleared his throat, standing next to Lorelai's stool. "What Kirk?" he snapped.

Kirk cleared his throat again, nervously, and said "Luke, how come Lorelai get some kind of special pancake? Just because you get to kiss a girl does not mean that she should get preferential treatment."

"Yes it does!" Lorelai interjected indignantly.

"No it doesn't!" Kirk shot back at her.

"Sit down and shut up, Kirk, or you will have to leave!" Luke snarled at him.

"If I kiss you, can I get special pancakes?" Kirk asked.

"No!" Luke yelled, spinning around to head into the kitchen.

"What if I kiss Lorelai? Will I get special pancakes then?" Kirk asked persistently.

Luke turned back to glare at Kirk, and Kirk began to sink into his seat under the pressure of it. "Okay, okay." He mumbled, "I only really like the regular pancakes, anyway."

Lorelai spun back around on her stool, and wearing a huge smug grin on her face, she placed her chin in her palm and stared at the specials board dreamily. That was how Rory found her minutes later. She stopped by Patty and Babette's table to say hi to them. Rory motioned to her mother with her chin "What's with her?" she asked them.

"Honey, I think you mom might be smitten." Babette replied with a smile.

"Really?" Rory asked incredulously, for she had never seen Lorelai like this.

"Really." Patty replied as Luke stepped from the kitchen holding a plate of chocolate chip pancakes with a smiley face drawn in whipped cream. He placed the plate before a beaming Lorelai, and grinned back at her, oblivious to the rest of the diner. "And, I would say the feeling is mutual."

"Wow." Rory said as she moved toward Lorelai. "Hi Mom. Hi Luke." she said a bit cautiously.

"Rory!" her mother exclaimed, turning the grin on her daughter.

"Hey Rory!" Luke smiled at her too.

"So I take it, it was a good date last night?" Rory said slowly.

"Yeah." Luke and Lorelai replied simultaneously.

"Good." Rory said. "Okay, are you guys going to cut this out now? Because your are kind of freaking me out." Both Lorelai and Luke were startled and looked around as if noticing for the first time that they were not alone in the room.

Blushing furiously, Luke retreated to the kitchen mumbling something about getting Rory chocolate chip pancakes, too. Rory turned to her mother who sat with her shoulders hunched, laughing silently. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare your boyfriend off…" Rory started.

"That's okay." Lorelai replied, "If Luke or I had seen anyone else acting that way, we would have been mocking them mercilessly. Thanks for snapping us back."

"Anytime." Rory assured her. "Nice pancakes. How'd you score those?" At Lorelai's devilish grin she held her hand up to stop her, "Sorry! Forget I asked. Well, you had better start before they get cold."

"Oh yeah!" Lorelai said pulling the plate closer to her. She giggled and said "Watch this." to Rory as she spun around on her stool holding the plate. "Hey Kirk!" she called with cocky jerk of her head. When he looked up, Lorelai shoved a huge forkful of pancake and whipped cream into her mouth, smiling while she chewed.

"Oh! Now, that's just mean!" Kirk yelled as he jumped up and scurried from the diner.

Lorelai's laughter died out as she turned back around to see Luke placing an identical plate of pancakes in front of Rory. "Aw! Now I don't feel so special!" she pouted.

"You can't handle the power." Luke said tersely as he walked away.


	11. 1900LUKE

**A/N: I appreciate your feedback! The reviews really keep me going. Please remember that the rating on this story has changed to "T"! I am not sure how I feel about this chapter, so any help that you can give me would be most appreciated!**

Later that afternoon, Luke spied Lorelai and Rory crossing the square, heading toward Doose's Market. He called to Caesar that he would be back in a minute, and stepped outside to meet them.

"Hey." He said, shoving his hands into that front pockets of his jeans and shifting a little awkwardly.

"Hey back." Lorelai said with a grin.

Glancing between the two of them, Rory smirked a little and said "Hey Luke. Mom, I'm going to head on in to talk to Dean for a minute. I'll meet you in there."

"Okay, hon." Lorelai replied distractedly. She smiled shyly at Luke. "Hey." She said in a softer tone.

"What are you guys up to?" he asked, trying to restrain himself from brushing back the curl that the wind had teased onto her cheek.

"Oh, we're just heading to the store to load up. Sunday night movie fest." She explained.

"Oh." He said, his voice tinged with disappointment, "Well, that sounds like fun."

"You think?" she asked teasingly, "Are you big into movies, all of a sudden?"

"I meant, fun for the two of you." He said with some exasperation, "But, for the record, I do like movies, too."

"I have always suspected that there was a closet Ebert trapped in there!" she said tapping him lightly on his flannel clad chest.

"Yeah, well, he's a little cramped in there, but if I let him out too often, he tries to make me watch chick flicks." He quipped back, "So, you see, I gotta keep the lid on."

"I totally understand." She said nodding sagely. "What are you up to this evening?"

"Well," he said rubbing the back of his neck, "I have a hot date with the grease trap, then, if I get really lucky, I get to go upstairs a listen to Jess blare some post-punk crap that will make my ears bleed."

"Oh, sounds you have a pretty full evening planned, too." She smiled up at him.

"Yeah." He agreed. "So, I was thinking, maybe, if things don't get too out of hand with the cleaning, and my eardrums survive intact, and all, that, um, maybe I could call you later?" he asked a little hesitantly.

Lorelai turned on the mega watt smile and reached over to give his arm as squeeze. "You can call me later, definitely."

He grinned, relieved. "Good." He said nodding like a fool, "That sounds good."

"That sounds great." Lorelai concurred. "We're only watching one tonight, since Rory has some reading to do, so we should be done by about nineish…"

"Nineish it is." He said firmly, and surprised himself and her by leaning in to give her a quick peck on the lips before turning to go back to work.

Lorelai found it impossible to hide the foolish grin on her face as she walked toward the market with a little jaunt in her step, knowing that Luke might be watching her walk away.

He was.

At about 9:30 that night, Lorelai had changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and picking up the detritus of the evening's revels. She was attempting to shove the pizza box into a refrigerator already crammed with various takeout containers, without much success. When the telephone rang, she dropped the box on the floor and made a mad dash to the hall table screaming "I've got it! It's for me!" over her shoulder as she ran.

Rory heard the box hit the floor and laughed at her mother's uncontained excitement over a phone call. She stepped out of her room as she heard Lorelai's breathy "Hello" and proceeded to pick up the box and place it in the fridge on top of the Chinese from last Wednesday. She peeked around the corner in time to hear Lorelai say "Hang on a sec, okay?" as she tucked the phone under her chin, grabbed her coffee cup and headed upstairs to talk privately. _Oh, these kids today_. She thought as she closed the door to her room and turned on her stereo.

"Okay, hi." Lorelai said quietly as she crept up to her room.

"Is this a bad time?" Luke asked.

"No, not at all! I was just trying to keep it down because Rory is studying, but I'm upstairs now." She said, glad that he couldn't see the distinct lack of cool she exhibited in getting to the phone.

"Good. Good. So, how was your movie night?" he asked, his voice deep and gravelly.

"It was fine. We had a good time." She fibbed. Lorelai had found it difficult to concentrate on the movie, she was anxious for Luke to call. _Man, his voice is really deep on the phone. How had I not noticed that before?_ She wondered as she stretched out on her bed. "Lots of junk food was consumes. You would have hated it."

"Yeah." He replied, though he would have been happy to watch her shoving junk into mouth all night if it meant that he was with her.

"So, what are you doing? Are you down in the diner?" she asked.

"No, I'm upstairs. Why, were you wanting me to send you coffee through the phone?" he joked.

"Well, that would have been great, but I was just wondering because I don't hear any music blaring."

"Oh, yeah, well, Jess is out right now, but he'll be home soon." Luke said settling back into the couch and raising an arm up over his head.

"Wow. You have the place all to yourself, and you're wasting it calling me? I feel honored!" she teased.

"Wasting it?" he asked incredulously, "What should I be doing? And, before you say it – that was not the least bit dirty!"

"Well, I have to disagree with that, but what I meant was that you could be enjoying your peace and quiet, but instead, you're calling the chattiest person you know." She stopped and thought about it. "Luke, I am the chattiest person you know, aren't I?" she asked flirtatiously.

"Without a doubt." He responded in a sexy growl. "So, where are you at?"

"I'm upstairs now. I didn't want to disturb Rory." She responded innocently.

"Are you in your room?" he asked in that deep voice again.

"Yeah." She responded slowly, a little taken aback by his question, it seemed so un-Luke-like.

"So are you sitting on your bed?" he asked.

_Wow, s_he thought, _I can't believe Luke is talking like this! _Lorelai quickly caught onto his game and decided that he was not going to win this round. "No, I'm lying on my bed. Why do you ask?" She replied in a throaty voice.

"Just getting the visual image." He responded cockily. "I want to be able to picture you." Luke said simply.

"Picture me?" she asked, shocked by his admission, "What, do you want me to tell you what I'm wearing?"

"Not necessary." He replied confidently, "I like what I have in my head better than what the reality probably is." Luke said teasingly.

_Wow! Round one to Luke! Man, he should get one of those 1-900 numbers, with that sexy voice and all… Wait I don't want anyone else to hear that voice. I had better not suggest it. I can just picture the smug look on his face! Of course, I can also picture those beautiful blue eyes, those muscular, strong arms… stop! Stop it! Must regain control, Lorelai…_ she coached herself. Lorelai employed her huskiest voice and replied, "Why Mister Danes, are you trying to seduce me over the phone?" She heard a deep, throaty chuckle that sent chills down her spine.

"Is it working?" I _can't believe I just said that_, he thought.

"Yes." She said simply. There was silence on both ends of the line. Finally, Lorelai broke the tension. "Wow! You really can be bad, can't you?"

He laughed, "You have no idea!" he said as he shook his head at himself. "I'm sorry, that was…out of line." he said with a little trepidation.

"That was hot." Lorelai responded honestly. "But don't start what you don't want to finish!" she warned with mock severity.

"The 'want' part is something you should never question, Lorelai." He said with finality, sending a fresh round of shivers down her spine.

_God, I love it when he says my name like that!_ "So" she said drawing the word out a bit, "We should probably find a safer topic…" she trailed off.

"I would like to see you one night this week." He said plainly.

"You see me everyday!" she teased.

"Lorelai, I want to see you alone." He said, frustrated.

"Ah, trying to get me alone again!" she continued teasing, knowing he would rise to the bait. _Maybe I could work him into a nice rant as a bedtime story, _she thought with a smile.

Instead he laughed "Yes, and the sooner, the better. Are you free?"

"I believe I can make room for you in my schedule. What did you have in mind? Aside, from your naughty mental images, I mean." She prodded him.

"Well, I'll keep those under wraps for now." Lorelai felt her heart flip in her chest. Luke continued, "I was thinking that we could see a movie one night, and if you wanted, I would like to cook for you and Rory sometime." She felt her heart flip again. "We could do both on the same night if you don't have two nights free…" he trailed off.

"Oh, I think you can have two." She responded eagerly, "I will probably need a little time with you without the chaperone."

"Ah, who wants to get who alone, now?" he asked triumphantly.

"Hey! You are the one with the touchy brakes here, mister!" Lorelai retorted.

"True." He chuckled ruefully. "Can I trust you to behave?" he asked teasingly.

"Probably not." She replied honestly.

"I think I'll take my chances. Is Tuesday night good for dinner? I thought I would cook at your place, if that's okay?"

"That's a dream come true, my friend!" she responded enthusiastically, "Rory will be so excited to find out what all of those strange objects in the kitchen are for." She joked.

"Well, I am happy to be able to contribute to her educational goals." Luke said dryly. "So, you and me, Wednesday or Thursday? I know you go to dinner on Fridays…"

"What do you have against Monday, buddy?" she asked in an aggressive tone.

"Oh." He said, surprised, "I just figured that you might already have plans for tomorrow."

"I do now. I plan to see a movie with you." She said with a smile.

"I'm looking forward to it. Good night, Lorelai." He said softly.

She sighed, reluctant to let him hang up. "Hey Luke?" she called.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Um, how long?" she asked.

"What?" he asked, shocked and momentarily wondering if they had suddenly veered back into the 'dirty' again.

"How long do we have to wait?" Lorelai asked in a rush, embarrassed by her neediness.

Luke sighed, "I think we'll both know when we're ready. But judging from the hell the past 24 hours have been, I'm guessing soon. Don't you think?"

"Yeah. Soon." She agreed softly, glad to hear that he was feeling the pain, too. "Sweet dreams, Luke."

He laughed ruefully and said "There will be dreams, Lorelai, but I doubt that 'sweet' is the correct word for them. Good night." He said before he disconnected.

Lorelai curled up on her side, holding the phone to her chest, and drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.


	12. Some Like Hot, Risky Business

Some Like Hot, Risky Business

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory blew into the diner like a hurricane. "Coffee, coffee, coffee!" Lorelai yelled.

"Please!" Rory added to the noise level politely.

"Good morning to you, too." Luke growled as he set empty mugs before them.

"Oh! Can I have mine to go, please? And a muffin, too? I have to get an early bus this morning." Rory explained as Luke nagged her to-go order.

"How about you?" he asked Lorelai shortly.

She smiled sweetly at him and said "No, I am afraid that you will be stuck with me here," adding a little eyelash batting for good measure.

"My lucky day." He pseudo-groused as he placed the lid on Rory's cup and handed it to her.

"Bye Luke." Rory said, hopping off the stool and kissing her mother before she shouldered her massive backpack.

"Have a good day, Rory." He responded turning to pick up some orders from the window.

When the door had closed behind Rory, Lorelai turned toward Luke and called "Hey, what's with you, Senor Cranky-pants?"

He walked deposited the plates at the appropriate table and returned to stand behind the counter near Lorelai. "What do you mean?" he asked, annoyed.

"What? No kiss? No mile? No 'My you look stunning today, my lady love?' Have we been married for 40 years, and you just forgot to tell me?" she snarked at him.

His face softened as he leaned over to press a quick kiss to her lips. "Sorry," he mumbled, "I didn't sleep well last night."

"No?" she asked. "Did Jess stumble in late with 6 or 7 bikers and decide to reenact a Stones concert or something?" she teased.

"No." he replied shortly.

"Were the neighbors fighting and you had to storm in and break it up?" she guessed again.

"No." Luke answered, getting more agitated.

"Did Taylor sneak in and try to hand some holiday decorations, which you discovered, and then you were up half the night trying to bury the body?" she tried one more time.

"No. I wish." He sighed and rubbed his neck tiredly. He lean an elbow on the counter and spoke softly to her. "Let's just say I had some unsettling dreams, okay?"

"Nightmares?" she asked with exaggerated innocence.

"I wouldn't call them that." He laughed.

Enjoying the sound of his laugh, Lorelai leaned a little closer to him. "Was it that one where you have to call for help, and you can't hit the right numbers, so you have to keep hanging up and trying to redial? 'Cuz, man, I hate that one!" she said pointing a finger to he chest.

"Nope. Not that one, either." He smiled at her ability to pull him out of a bad mood.

_Man, that's a great smile. I want to start all of my mornings with that smile_, she thought happily, knowing that half of the pleasure was breaking down his resistance and pulling it out of him. "So," she whispered to him "are you going to tell me?"

"Nope." He straightened up and shoved his hands into his back pockets. Seeing the disappointment in her eyes, he leaned in again and whispered back "But, I will tell you that you had a starring role in them."

"Oooh!" she said her eyes lighting up. "Was I good? Because if so, I think you should send a reel to the Emmy or Oscar people."

"I'll take that under consideration when it's nomination time." He smirked at her. "What are you ordering today?"

She pouted a bit at his comment, but brightened at the thought of breakfast. "I'll have a jack omelet with a side of bacon, toast, more coffee, and you." She added as an afterthought.

He laughed again, "Glad to know I rank. Your breakfast will be out in a minute. Me, you can have at about 7 tonight. Is that okay?" he asked.

"All of you?" she asked coquettishly.

"The pleasure of my company, as I escort you to the movie of your choice." He corrected as he pulled a newspaper folded to the entertainment section out from under the counter and handed it to her. "All I ask, is that it does not have guys wearing those knicker things, or come with a rating system that uses hankies, okay?" 

"Cool!" she enthused as she began to pour over their choices.

A short while later, she finished the last of her toast, and rose to step over to the register. Luke looked up from the tickets he was sorting to see her grinning at him devilishly "What?" he asked suspiciously. "What did you do?"

Her eyes wide with innocence, she asked "Me? Why would you think that I did anything?"

"You have that look." He replied.

"What look?" she shot back.

"That 'I just did, or am going to do, something that will drive Luke nuts' look." He said calmly crossing his arms over his chest.

Momentarily distracted by the flex of his muscles under the flannel, Lorelai's train of thought derailed.

"Lorelai?" Luke tried to rouse her from her reverie. "Lorelai?" he called again, waving his hand in front of her eyes.

"Oh!" she started, and blushed, "sorry. No, I was just going to tell you that I picked a movie for tonight."

"Yeah?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah. They are having a classic film fest in Hartford at the old Palace theater." She explained. "At 8:00 tonight, they are showing 'Some Like It Hot', you know Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis… Marilyn Monroe" she added the last name as an enticement.

Narrowing his eyes at her Luke asked "Don't those guys wear dresses in that movie?"

"Well, yeah, but only as an excuse to meet girls. Girls like Marilyn Monroe." She explained.

He thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged at her saying a simple "Okay."

"Okay?" she asked, expecting more of a fight. "Okay." She said slowly, nodding as if trying to understand if she just lost a round or not.

Seeing her confusion, Luke laughed and reached out to take her arm as he walked her toward the door. "Come by here with Rory at about 6:30 and I'll feed you both before we go."

"Wow. You're going to feed us 2 nights in a row? We must be special to you." She flirted.

Smiling gently at her, he said "Lorelai, I usually feed you at least 6 days a week. Why should this be any different?" he joked. "But you are special. Both of you." He said softly.

"Special how?" she asked narrowing her eyes, "like 'Don't eat the paste!' special?"

The laugh escaped him again, which brought a smile to her face. He shook his head as he propelled her out the door calling "More like the 'Don't get the crazy lady started!' type of special. Now go to work,"

Lorelai waggled her fingers at him, and he grinned as he turned to head back behind the counter.

Lorelai and Rory arrived at the diner that evening for dinner. They even managed to coax Luke into sitting with them and eating a turkey sandwich while they scarfed down their burgers and onion rings. Luke asked Rory about her school work and activities at Chilton, Rory gently teased both of them about their burgeoning romance, and Lorelai explained to them about the company that had rented the entire inn for the following weekend, and the strange dinner theater like production that they were planning for them. The townsfolk looked on happily, quietly commenting on how well the three of them looked together, and what a nice family picture they made, laughing and talking together over their meal. Finally, Rory left to hang out with Lane for a while before hitting the books, and Luke and Lorelai made their way to Hartford for the movie.

After coaxing Luke into stopping for her secret candy stash, which was smuggled at the bottom of her cavernous purse, they entered the historic theater to find it nearly empty.

They chose seats near the back, and settled in for the show. As the opening credits rolled, Luke wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her a little closer to him in her seat. As the movie progressed, he found his hand toying with her curls as lean leaned over to smell the sweet fragrance of her shampoo. As Jack and Tony were scurrying in their high heels for the train, Lorelai found her hand absently rubbing the soft denim on his knee. When Luke could resist no longer, and moved her hair aside so that he could press soft, wet kisses to her exposed neck. This made Lorelai inch her hand a little higher on his thigh, gently raking her nails over the material. Finally, she turned her head, and his lips caught hers. After a few moments of heated kissing, Luke placed his hand over hers to stop her northward progression. She pulled back to look at him with heavy lidded eyes. He squeezed the hand that her was holding, took into firmly in his, and moved away saying softly "We're in public." Lorelai nodded her understanding, and tried to compose herself. Luke stared straight at the screen, his jaw flexing as he tried to control his impulse to pull her into his lap. Finally, he turned and offered her a self-deprecating smile and a wink, and they settled back to enjoy the rest of the show.

When the movie ended, they walked hand in hand to his truck, chatting amiably about the movie's funny moments. When they approached the passenger door, Luke spun Lorelai around and pressed he up against the side of the truck, assaulting her with passionate kisses. Lorelai responded eagerly, pushing her fingers into the soft curls at the base of his neck and urging him closer to her. Finally, Luke stepped back suddenly and blinked at her. "We've have got to stop this." He said shaking his head to clear it. Still in a daze, Lorelai looked at him uncomprehendingly. He opened the door for her and helped her into the truck. When he had walked around to the driver side and gotten in, he found her staring straight through the windshield.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, his finger tracing the arc of the steering wheel. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm acting like a hormone driven teenager." He turned to look at her, "I just can't seem to help myself." When she didn't respond right away, he continued, "I just can't believe that I get to be here with you, you know? I've wanted it for so long, and now it's here, in front of me, and I don't seem to have any self control."

Lorelai turned to him and looked at him solemnly, "You seem to be the only one with _any_ self control in this truck."

"Lorelai," he started gently, trying to explain, "I want more than this. I mean, I obviously want that, too, but that's not why I'm here. I don't want you to think that."

"I know that Luke." She said covering his hand with hers, "I know that. It's almost like maybe we should just, you know, and then maybe we won't be so focused on it…"

"Lorelai Gilmore," he said seriously, "when we, um, well, I don't want it to be something we do to get it over with, or to ease our, I don't know, desires, I guess would be the word." Luke looked down to gather his thoughts "If that were the case, we could stop at a cheap motel right now if we wanted too. But," he said taking a deep breath, "we have only been 'dating' for about three days, you know?"

"I know." She said with a sigh, "It seems like so much longer. It seems like we have been waiting forever, for years, I guess."

He laughed a little and said "Well, maybe we have been. But let me make one thing clear on my part." He said, reaching up to stroke her cheek as her stared at her with those penetrating blue eyes, "When we," he paused to swallow the lump in this throat, "make love, I want to make love with you, not have sex. Do you understand me?"

"Yes." She said, gazing into his eyes, "I want that too."

"Okay" he said with a relieved smile. "So rein it in, Gilmore!" he said lightly to break the intense mood inside the cab.

"Me?" she asked in disbelief, "I think it was you who molested me just now!" she replied indignantly.

"Yeah." He laughed, caught, but smiling smugly, "But, you liked it."

"No." she said stubbornly, causing him to glance at her uneasily, "I loved it." She said as her exhaled and started the truck. "But, don't think you can try that funny stuff with me tomorrow, mister! Miss Gilmore keeps an eagle eye on me, and she'll be watching you like a hawk!"

"Oh, I don't doubt it." Luke replied with a laugh.

"Will Jess be coming over too?" she asked.

"Nah. He said something about going up to Wal-Mart after school to apply for a job there." He said with a shrug.

"Oh, well, that's good." Lorelai replied, "He can probably make a little more there, with the extra hours and all…" _And, keep him busy_, she thought.

"Yeah." Luke agreed, thinking that the extra work may help keep his nephew out of the extra trouble that he always seems to find. "What time do you want me there?"

"I don't know. How long does it take you to do whatever it is that you will be doing?" she asked.

"Well, if you want to eat at around 6:00, I will need top start at about 4 or 4:30." He responded.

"Wow – it takes that long, huh?" she said with wonder, "If you wouldn't be uncomfortable with it, you could come over then, Rory will be home. I probably won't make it home until 5 or 5:30."

"Do you think Rory would be okay with that? Having me there without you?" he asked, concerned.

"Are you kidding? She is so ecstatic about the thought of cooked food be eaten in our very own kitchen, that I am afraid she may be hiring a videographer for the event. Besides, you've repaired practically everything in that house anyway. We're pretty used to having you there." She said with a smile, giving him a pat on the knee.

"Good. I like being there." He said relieved, "But, watch your hands, Miss Gilmore, that's what got you into trouble the last time! It's a risky game you're playing" he said with a playful sideways glance.

"Yeah," she agreed breathily, "but you forget, Mr. Danes, that's a risk I am always willing to take."


	13. Table Talk

Tuesday afternoon found Luke with a casserole dish balanced precariously on his forearm and two stuffed grocery bags wrapped in his other arm as he climbed Lorelai's front steps, cursing mildly and muttering under his breath. He struggled to put the bags down without upending the casserole, and knocked on the door. A moment later, Rory appeared beaming at the sight of their favorite food purveyor.

"Come in. Come in." she urged as she bent to help with the groceries.

"Thanks." Luke muttered stepping into the foyer as Rory kicked the door closed behind her. He stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure of how he should proceed.

Oblivious, Rory began walking into the kitchen with the grocery bags babbling enthusiastically all of the way. "This is so great, Luke! I can't believe someone aside from Sookie is actually going to use our kitchen for cooking and stuff!" she grinned back at him as he followed her lead. He saw her school books strewn across the dining table, so he placed the casserole dish on the counter and took the bags from her arms.

Rory looked around the cramped kitchen and asked "Will it bother you if I keep working here? I'm almost done. I'm just reorganizing some notes now, and I have more space at the table than at my desk." She explained, gesturing to the pile of thick texts and notebooks.

Luke began unloading the contents of the shopping bags onto the counter saying "It won't bother me, if you are sure that I won't bother you. I don't want to mess up your studying or anything…" he trailed off uneasily.

"Oh, it's won't bother me. If I can study in the same house with Lorelai Gilmore, I can study anywhere! Besides, I want to watch what you do. Who knows? Maybe someday I might want to boil something." She said with a shrug, returning to her seat. Luke chuckled and returned to his unpacking. "So, what's in the dish?" Rory tried to ask casually.

"Lasagna." Luke replied.

"Lasagna." She replied reverently, "You mean like the homemade kind, not frozen?" she asked with wide eyed innocence.

"Yes, like the homemade kind." He returned with a smirk. Seeing her beam at him with admiration, it spurred him on, "I've been experimenting with different recipes for it for years. I think I finally have it. I thought that I would use you guys as my test audience."

"I am happy to be your guinea pig." Rory replied cheekily as she shuffled some papers.

Luke finished the unpacking, turned the oven on, and moved to the sink to start washing vegetables for a salad. When he pulled a small cutting board and knife from one of the bags, and began chopping said vegetables quickly and efficiently, Rory gave up all pretense of studying. She had been watching Sookie at the inn for years, but somehow it was different watching a man do these things in her own kitchen. She was riveted. Trying to achieve a casual, polite tone, she asked him "So, is Jess coming tonight?"

"No," he answered with is back to her, "He's going up to Wal-Mart to apply for a part-time job there."

Glad that he couldn't see the disappointment she felt, she tried for a light tone, "Oh, that's good. He can probably use the extra money. Plus, you know, it will be something for him to do, I mean, he's not really into the Stars Hollow scene, I guess." She let her voice fade away on the last thought.

Luke laughed a bit, and continued chopping. After a moment of silence he turned to her suddenly and said sincerely, "Rory, I want to thank you for being so friendly to Jess, and all. I know he isn't the easiest guy to be around, but you take the time to try to get to know him, and I appreciate that."

A little stunned by Luke's thanks, Rory tried to wave it away saying, "It's no big deal."

Luke took a step toward the table and placed his hand on the back of the chair across from her. "It is a big deal. I know that he got off on the wrong foot here. He made your mom mad the first night that the came here. He's alienated half of the town, and frankly, I can't really blame them for disliking him. He's got a chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Everest."

"Well," Rory replied softly, "I know that things haven't been easy on him, with his mom and stuff." She looked up quickly to see if she had offended Luke by talking about his sister. Seeing that he didn't seem mad, she continued, "I know that this place has to feel like a foreign country to him most of the time. I just wanted him to know that there are people here that he could talk to, you know? You, me," she said gesturing between them, "and mom and some others will come around, eventually." She said optimistically.

Luke looked down and nodded, "Yeah. Well. I just wanted to say thanks." He said turning back to his work.

Rory sat thinking about Jess for a minute. She studied her hands as she spoke "I can kind of relate to how he feels. I mean, I have Mom, which is great. She really is more than I need. But, sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if Dad had stuck around." Luke dumped the salad fixings into a large bowl, and turned to look at her. "Not that I really want him here. I mean, he usually just messes things up, but I do wonder." She said quietly.

"I am sure you do." Luke replied solemnly, "And I am sure Jess does, too, so maybe you do have that in common." He turned back to retrieve the salad bowl and place it into the fridge to chill. The telephone rang, and Rory hopped up to answer it.

Luke placed the lasagna in the oven to bake and turned his attention to chopping some garlic and onions. When Rory returned she said "That was Mom. She is tied up at the inn, but she promises to be here no later than 5:45."

"That should be fine." Luke replied, tossing the garlic and onion into a pan that he had heating on the stove, and drizzling some olive oil over them. As the scent of the sizzling concoction filled the air, Rory rose to peer into the pan. "What are you making now?" she asked curiously.

Luke pulled a jar of crushed tomatoes out of one of the bags and said "I am making some extra sauce to go with the lasagna. It's better if you can let it simmer for hours, but I was lucky to get the lasagna itself put together, and I used all of the sauce that I had made up for that."

"So, is that stuff like the Ragu stuff in the store?" she asked, pointing toward the jar, "It doesn't look like it."

Luke pulled the jar back, affronted, "You think I would make you sauce from a jar?" he asked in an insulted tone of voice.

"No!" she began to protest, "I'm just asking! I don't understand how this all works." She said gesturing desperately.

Luke smiled at her to show that he was just teasing her, "This, my untutored little friend, is a jar of the best roma tomatoes; I use them as a base for my sauce. I have already peeled and crushed them, now I will add them to the garlic and onion that I have sautéed in olive oil, and add some herbs and a bit of sugar for sweetness, and there you have it, simple tomato sauce." He ended with matter of fact nod.

"Oh." Rory answered, nodding her understanding. "I never knew that you could cook like this." She rushed to clarify, "I mean, all of your food is great, but I didn't know that you could cook fancier stuff, too."

"Fancy?" he asked in disbelief, "You eat at your grandmother's house each week and you think lasagna is fancy?"

"Well, not fancy, I guess. It's just not your usual diner stuff, you know?" She said trying to explain what she meant.

Luke flashed his smile at her again and said, "I know. I guess, I just don't have much opportunity to cook for people outside of the diner. I usually just make myself a sandwich or a salad or something. This stuff is something I do for fun." He said as he added some spices to the sauce and stirred.

"Fun." Rory said, as if she had never connected the act of cooking with the word.

"Yep. Fun." He answered definitely. "I think it is. I guess, that's why I have a diner now, instead of a hardware store."

"I guess that would explain it." Rory replied as she returned to her seat. She continued to watch him as he pulled a loaf of bread from the bag and began to baste it with softened butter. While she watched him move around their kitchen with such ease, she was struck by how natural it seemed to have him there. She reordered the papers that she had stacked on the table and placed them into the appropriate folders, all the while trying to get a handle on this new dynamic in their lives.

"Hey, Luke?" she called tentatively.

"Yes?" he answered without turning from his task.

"I'm really happy that you and Mom are, you know, together…" she said shyly.

He stopped buttering the bread, but kept his back to her, waiting for the 'but' that he was sure was about to come. When if didn't, he grabbed a towel to wipe his hands on, and turned to look at her. "I am too." He said softly.

Rory looked up to see him gazing on her affectionately. Suddenly she blurted, "One time, last year, I told Mom that I didn't want her to date you."

Luke looked at the ground and replied, "I know, she told me."

"It wasn't you." Rory rushed to explain, "I just, I didn't think, I mean…"

He held up his hand to stop her, "Rory its okay…"

"No, Luke, you have to understand. You know Mom is everything to me, but you are important to me too. I just didn't want anything to mess that all up, you know?" she began to ramble, "Seeing how happy Mom has been these last few days, and you too, I just feel so selfish! I mean, I knew you liked her. I could see it. But, when she even mentioned that she might like you too, that way, I just freaked! I was afraid that she would hurt you, and that it would ruin everything! I'm so sorry!" she cried plaintively.

Luke pulled out the chair across from Rory and sat down, placing his folded hands on the table. "It's okay." He said again calmly. "I just want to assure you that I am indeed a big boy now, but I do appreciate the fact that you were trying to look out for me." Luke smiled at her and reached over to pat her hand awkwardly. Once again, he clasped his hands in front of him, and continued, his eyes darting around the room nervously, "I just think that your Mom and me, well, we had to wait for the right time for it to happen, and apparently, that time is now." He said simply with a depreciating lift of his shoulder. "That is why I am here tonight. I'm just hoping that you really are okay with it, because what you think is just as important to me as it is to your Mom."

"I am more than okay with it, Luke. I'm ecstatic. Elated. Overjoyed. Blissful, and every other apt descriptor that I can't think of right now." She said with a huge grin.

Luke grinned back at her, tapping the table as he stood, he winked and said "Me too." As he returned to his dinner preparations, checking to see that the Lasagna had warmed through before pulling it from the oven, and replacing it with the garlic bread.

A short while later, Rory had cleared the table of her school books, and was taking plates from the cabinet, when they heard the front door open. "Oh, my Lord!" Lorelai exclaimed as she entered, "My house has never smelled so good! Greetings friends and loved ones!" she said dropping a kiss on Rory's cheek as she passed with her hands full of dishes and cutlery. Lorelai stepped over to the stove to peer into the pot of sauce that Luke was stirring. She reached up and casually ran her fingers down the nape of Luke's neck, cooing "Hiya handsome, whatcha got there?"

"The heart's blood of your ten worst enemies." He deadpanned.

"Good man." She nodded approvingly, "Smells terrific in here."

"Thanks," he said with a smile, "If you will kindly stand aside, it will all be ready in a minute." Nudging her away from the oven.

"Your wish is my command, O Master of the Kitchen!" she answered with a grin, "I'm going to run upstairs to change." She said turning to leave the room, and dashing up the stairs.

The three of them sat down to their dinner. There was a bit of a scuffle over Luke's insistence that they eat the salad that he had prepared, but they were pleasantly surprised by the delicious dressing that he had made for it. Amidst the moans of culinary ecstasy, they recounted their days for each other. Rory and Lorelai were shocked to find how up-to-date Luke was on all of the town gossip, thinking that he always tuned a deaf ear to the scuttlebutt that flew around the diner. They were wrong. To their delight, he had the scoop on everyone and everything. Rory had them laughing hysterically at Paris' latest exploits at the Franklin. Following Lorelai's seemingly endless riff on the waiter and musician auditions for the paper company weekend, Luke pulled one more surprise from the refrigerator. Proudly, he presented the women in his life with a sinful looking chocolate turtle cheesecake. Overcome with the bounty placed before them both Lorelai and Rory simultaneously leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. This, of course, caused a deep red blush to flood his face, and a fresh round of teasing ensued.

After the dishes were cleaned and put away, Luke gathered his cooking implements and was preparing to leave when Rory bounced in from the living room, waving a DVD case at him. "In your honor, O Great Chef, we have decided that tonight's showing will be of the film classic Cool Hand Luke!" she stopped, seeing him gathering his belongings. "Oh, do you have to go?" she asked, disappointed. Lorelai popped up behind her in the doorway.

"No, well, I just thought…" he trailed off waving his hand around the kitchen.

"You just thought that you would come over, cook us a fabulous meal, eat, help clean up, and then we would show you the door?" Lorelai mocked, arms crossed across her chest.

He shrugged, "No. I didn't know what…"

"Get in her, mister!" Rory ordered sternly.

"You heard the lady!" Lorelai said, gesturing with her head.

Luke smiled with relief and followed them into the living room. Rory was seated at one end of the couch, Lorelai at the other. Lorelai patted the center of the couch in an invitation for him to sit. Once he had settled, Lorelai smiled at him encouragingly, "Now squish around and get comfy. Sharing dinner and a movie night with the Gilmore Girls, you are one lucky guy!" she said shaking her head in wonder.

He looked between the two of them, flanking him like bookends, and briefly wondered if he was up to the task. Seeing their easy smiles, and obvious excitement at including him, he flashed them the full on Luke-smile, pressed back into the cushions, folded his arms comfortably across his chest and agreed, "I sure am."


	14. Positve Reinforcement

**A/N: I know that this chapter is mainly filler, but I am setting things up, so humor me. Thanks again for all of your responses to the last few chapters, I really appreciate it!**

Positive Reinforcement

It had been days since he had gotten to spend any time with Lorelai. _Okay, that may have been an exaggeration, but it had been a couple of days since their dinner at her house, and he had hardly seen or talked to her in those two days._ Luke frowned as he wiped the counter for the millionth time that day. _You've got it bad, buddy,_ he chided himself, _get a grip. She's busy, you'll see her after this thing at the inn is over. _But Luke was impatient, which was not like Luke at all. _I haven't seen her alone since Monday night,_ he thought, _that's too long to go_. _But Tuesday was good,_ he mused, _it was good to spend some time just hanging out and talking with the two of them. _

Actually, he had seen more of Rory around town in the last couple of days than he had her mother. Lorelai was swamped with work, and when she wasn't working, she collapsed in a heap and slept like the dead. Thinking back to Tuesday night, Luke remembered that she had barely made it half way through the movie before she was out cold, leaning back against the arm of the couch with her bare toes tucked under his thigh. _It was all he could do to keep from curling up next to her, she looked so peaceful, _he thought.Unfortunately, Rory was still sitting next to him, so that meant there would be no couch cuddling. When the movie ended, Luke gently shook her awake, surreptitiously stroking her cheek and hair while his body blocked Rory from viewing his caresses. Groggily, she stood and walked him to the door. He kissed her sweetly and turned her around, propelling her toward the stairs and her bedroom.

She blew in early Wednesday morning, begged for a to-go cup of coffee, pecked a quick kiss on his lips, and he hasn't seen her since. He tried to call last night, but Rory answered and said that Lorelai had not gotten home until almost 9:00, and had fallen asleep, still dressed, sprawled in her bed. She offered to wake her for him, but he refused, telling Rory to let her sleep. And this morning, no Lorelai. No Lorelai at lunch and so far, no Lorelai for dinner. The thought made him frown as he cleared yet another table and wiped to down, replacing the salt and pepper shakers to their rightful spot. He took the dirty dishes to the kitchen, and had no sooner dumped them in a bin to be washed than he heard the bell chime. His head popped up, his Lorelai sixth sense telling him that she was here. He poked his head around the corner to see Lorelai, Rory and Sookie sinking dejectedly into seats at a table, Lorelai leaning forward to rest her forehead in her hand.

"I've got thirty pounds of aged beef, trays and trays of trout, mountains of pruned tarts. I diced pumpkins until my hands turned orange. I've got pumpkin hands." Sookie moaned pathetically.

"Take a sip" Lorelai encouraged her friend to find strength in coffee, as she always had.

"How can you stay so calm about this?" Sookie asked, perturbed.

Lorelai responded philosophically, "There's nothing we can do about it."

"I can't believe they got snowed in." Rory said, shaking her head.

"All that work, all that extra help we hired." Lorelai rubbed her head again, "Oh well. At least they paid for it already. We didn't lose any money." She said trying to find the silver lining.

"Yeah I guess." Sookie pouted, and then brightened a bit, saying "You know, I could still make up the dinner for the three of us".

"Yeah, but then it would be like the three of us, all alone in the dining room." Rory replied shaking her head sadly.

"It would be like The Shining, except instead of Jack Nicholson, we have Rune." Lorelai joked.

Luke strolled over to them, coffee pot in hand. "You girls want anything besides coffee?"

Sookie head popped up and she sized Luke up, giving him a speculative look, "Hey, what about Luke?"

"What about him?" Luke asked curiosity and panic warring in his voice.

"He eats, and Jess eats. Doesn't Jess eat?" she asked, looking up at him again.

"What's she doing?" he asked Lorelai, the panic evident in his face.

She smiled serenely at him, "Hon, I think she's inviting you for dinner." She said patting his arm soothingly.

"Yeah, come on, join us. It'll be fun." Sookie enthused, "You like Peacock Pie?" she asked perkily.

"I'm a hundred percent sure I don't." Luke answered in all seriousness.

"There'll be normal food too.' Lorelai said encouragingly.

"And decorations." Rory added, forgetting her audience for a moment.

"And music." Sookie said, as if this would entice him.

Lorelai gave him a friendly poke in the belly, "Come on, it'll be fun." She goaded.

"Well…" he hesitated, still not quite clear about what he was being roped into.

Lorelai sat straight up in her chair and bounced a little excitedly, "Hey, you know what? Let's invite everyone."

"Everyone who?" Sookie asked.

"Everyone everyone." Lorelai returned.

Sookie tried again to get Lorelai to explain, "Everyone everyone who?"

"Everyone we know, everyone we like." She said gesturing around the diner.

Getting excited, too, Rory added "And they could even stay in the inn. All those empty rooms, all those uneaten pillow mints."

"An out of control, over the top slumber party!" Lorelai bounced in her seat again with uncontrolled enthusiasm.

"I love it!" Sookie exclaimed, clapping her hands together with glee.

"Me too!" Rory confirmed.

"Done!" Lorelai said decisively. She pointed at Luke, "Spread the word."

Luke snorted at her commanding tone, "I haven't said I'd come yet so I'm certainly not gonna suddenly become your messenger boy." Lorelai fixed her penetrating stare on him, and he caved, as usual, "Eight o'clock?" he asked resigned to his fate. 

"Seven." She corrected.

"Right." He responded, bewildered by what just happened here. "Where are you going?" he asked as they stood up from the table.

"To make plans." Lorelai replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Bye, doll." She said pressing a kiss to his lips. "Call me later!" she yelled as they filed out the door.

"Right." Luke said again, looking around to see if there was any sign of the truck that just ran over him.

On Saturday night, Luke and Jess showed up to the dinner early, but stayed pretty much out of the way of the bustle. When Lorelai announced her special arrangements for the sleigh rides, Luke found himself actually excited by the prospect, hoping for a few minutes alone with her. He watched as she made sure that all of her guests were lined up and taken care of before she hopped into sleigh herself, and stood looking over the grounds of the inn, obviously looking for him. He decided to make her pay for the lack of contact between them for the past few days, and waited a moment before he stepped out from the darkened porch, and strolled over to pat the horse that was harnessed to her sleigh.

Lorelai smiled in relief when she saw him there. "Hey, you in the belt – get in." she called to him.

"What? Oh no. I was just sort of checking things out." He tried to act nonchalant.

"Come on." She wheedled, "We can pull a Ben Hur and take down Taylor's sleigh" she offered enticingly.

Luke tried to smother the smile, he tried to act hesitant, still pouting a little, "I don't know, I..."

"Aww, come on Luke. I can't be all school marm-y and ride by myself." She pleaded, "Please? I have this nice soft lap rug, it's a beautiful, romantic, snowy night, and we can cuddle up all nice and cozy together." She held up the corner of the blanket enticingly.

"Well, okay." He acquiesced, knowing that she wasn't buying his act anyway, stepped up into the sleigh, and settled in next to her, casually draping his arm back behind her shoulders.

Lorelai immediately snuggled against him, and sighed happily, saying "Giddy up!" When the horses began to move, Lorelai sat up excitedly "Oh! The horses heard me! I speak horse language! I'm Doctor Doolittle!"

Luke smiled wryly and pulled her back against him and said "Plus I think the driver of the sleigh heard you."

"Oh yeah." She conceded with a sigh. She breathed in his scent and burrowed into his neck murmuring "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." He said in a deep gravely voice that sent a rush of warmth through her. They relaxed into each other, content first the first time in days.

"I'm sorry, it got so crazy." She said, "I don't want you to think that I was ignoring you." She explained quietly.

"I know." He acknowledged, "I was just being my usual cranky self. I wanted to see you." He said simply.

"Well, you've got me now. Tell me how the rest of your week has been." She said, toying with his hand.

They proceeded to chat about their respective weeks. Luke told her about his discovery of the 'secret of parenting', and Lorelai mocked him mercilessly before pressing a tender kiss to his lips. All too soon, they were back at the inn, and Lorelai was swept up in the preparations for the dinner production.

The meal went off without a hitch. Jackson did an excellent job at playing the Squire, the food was strange, but delicious, and even Richard and Emily Gilmore seemed to be having fun. The only bump in the evening was when Lorelai's mother learned that her husband had left his job without telling her. Being the proper, private people that they were, they swept the matter aside and put on a good show of enjoying the rest of the evening, but Luke did not envy Mr. Gilmore for the explaining that he would be doing for the rest of the night, possibly the rest of his life. Later that night, after Bootsy and Jackson's impromptu rendition of Hotel California, Luke wandered toward the stairs with Jess. He turned to his nephew and said "I'm going to see if Lorelai needs any help cleaning up in there." and waved a hand uncomfortably in the direction of the dining room.

Jess smirked at him and saying "I won't wait up," winked at his uncle, and started up the stairs pulling a book from his back pocket.

Luke wandered off to find Lorelai stacking dishes in the kitchen. "Hey." He called, looking around to see that they were alone, "Do you need help?" he asked solicitously, as he walked up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist.

"On no." she said with a quick shake of her head, "Sookie has gone to pour Jackson into bed, and we're going to leave most of this for the morning, since we won't have any guests coming in." she let her head fall back onto his shoulder.

He kissed her temple gently, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. "Tired?" he asked in that deep voice of his.

She smiled, flirtatiously, "Not anymore."

She replied as she spun around to pull his lips to hers. Their kisses heated instantly, and soon, she was pressed back against the counter, his hard muscles pressing into her soft curves. His hand roamed her back, desperate to pull her closer to him still. Her hands found their way under his sweater, where she began lightly raking her nails over the taut muscles of his back. She moaned as his lips traveled from her mouth to her earlobes, tugging and nipping at them gently. He pressed a long of hot, wet kisses down the side of her throat, one hand caught in her hair, the other traveling up her ribcage, skimming the bottom of her breast. As she felt his fingers brush against her, she moaned his name "Luke." Encouraged, he began to caress her more intimately, and her head fell back in pleasure. He pressed kisses to the hollow of her throat, and felt the sound of her purr before he heard it.

Frenzied by his insistent ministrations, and the feel of his hips pressing into hers, Lorelai raised up to kiss his neck, breathing in that scent that was so purely Luke, musky, sexy, and comforting all at the same time. As she licked, nipped and sucked her way to his ear, she moved her hand around to caress his firm stomach, delighted to find it dusted in a light covering of hair. As she reached his ear lobe, she pulled it into her mouth, sucking gently. When she released it, she whispered to him "If you are going to want to stop, you had better stop now." She warned him.

"Don't want to stop." He growled, capturing her lips for another series of searing kisses. Once they broke apart, he pressed his forehead to hers and took a deep breath and continued, "Really don't want to, but Rory, Jess. I doubt Sookie would appreciate this happening here in her kitchen."

Lorelai flashed him a sassy smile and replied, "I don't know, she might encourage it, you know, she's a big fan of the whole you and me thing."

"I am, too, but I still don't think that it's the best idea in the world." He said with a rueful grin.

She ran her hand along the side of his face, and gazed up into those amazing blue eyes, "Well, then, lucky for you I have a better idea." She said, reaching behind him to grab something from the counter. "I happen to know where there is a nice room that is not being used this evening." She said dangling the key in front of his eyes.

"Really? Are you sure?" he asked her, his gaze boring into her.

"Really, and I am positive." She confirmed.

He snatched the key from her fingers, and grabbed her hand, pulling her behind him determinedly as he headed for the stairs.


	15. At Last

They slipped down the deserted hallway as quietly as they could and slid the key into room number sixteen. Keeping her hand pressed to her lips to stifle her laughter at Luke's eagerness, Lorelai slipped into the room and turned to him unleashing her brilliant smile on him the moment the door was closed and locked behind him. He covered the distance between them in two strides, and gathered her into his arms again, kissing her with all that he had. Lorelai felt the familiar warmth start to spread through her body. She clung to his neck for balance, and trusted in his strong arms to hold her up as she poured all of her want into the kiss.

When they broke apart, chests heaving for oxygen, their eyes locked. Lorelai's lips twitched first, but it was Luke who broke the tension with a bark of laughter that he could not contain. "Geez, Lorelai, he said still laughing, "if we keep that up, we may spontaneously combust!"

Loving the delighted look on his face, Lorelai laughed too, saying "But, what a way to go, huh?"

"Well, if you have to go, that's definitely the way to go." Luke agreed with a naughty quirk of his brow. Nervously, he ducked his head and sat down on the bench at the end of the bed. Looking up at her through his lashes, he confessed "I'm a little nervous."

"Me too." Lorelai admitted with a relieved smile. She cast her eyes around the room, trying to think of what to say next when Luke interrupted her search.

"Would you like me to build a fire?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. A fire would be nice. How very romantic of you, Mr. Danes." She said falling back on her old stand-by, 'when in doubt, flirt', Lorelai always told Rory. Flirting can help a girl out in any number of tricky situations. She just hopes that it works when a girl has lured her boyfriend, who is also her best friend, to an empty room in a charming inn, in hopes that he will finally sleep with her.

"Well, it's been a very romantic evening, Miss Gilmore," he responded as he bent to light the fire, falling back on the banter that made them both more comfortable, "what with the sleigh ride, and the weird food, and the Hotel California, and all."

"Oh. You noticed that too?" she asked innocently and she came to place her hand on his shoulder, "I almost thought that little cupids were going to pop out of the woodwork and start firing away down there." She joked.

He stood, brushing his hands off on his pants and said half-jokingly "Well, I think one of the little buggers got me." Then he caught himself and they both laughed. "Boy, that was corny, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah, pretty corny," she agreed, "but sweet." She said laying her palm against his cheek. "Come here." She beaconed to him.

Being the obliging guy that his is, Luke was swift to comply with her instruction. They kissed slowly and sweetly, savoring the taste of one another. Luke pulled back to gaze down at her, stroking her hair. "So, who's room was this supposed to be?" he asked softly.

"Ours." She answered with a shy glance at the floor.

"Good." he answered, tipping her chin up so that he could see her incredible blue eyes. "And who is next door?" he asked, his voice a sexy purr.

"Over there." She said pointing to her right, "Is Bootsy, and he's passed out for the night. And on the other side is Sookie and Jackson, but Jackson apparently snores like a freight train, so Sookie wears earplugs to bed." Lorelai smiled at him impishly.

"Have I complimented your organizational skills this evening?" he asked with a wide smile.

"No, I don't believe you have." She said pouting for him.

"Well, let me correct that immediately!" he said taking her hand from his neck, and pressing soft kisses to the back of her hand and traveling up her arm as he spoke, "I think that you are amazing. You are an amazing hostess, and all of your guests were highly entertained all evening." He turned her arm over and kissed the tender skin at her wrist, feeling her pulse beat beneath his lips, he continued, kissing back up the underside of her arm, "and, you did all of that while looking beautiful enough to steal my breath away each time I looked at you."

Her eyes glazed, her mouth open in shock, Lorelai pulled him up to her and kissed him passionately. _This is it_, she thought, _this is what I have been needing_. Gently, she pulled him toward the bed, laying back on it, and reaching for him, urging him to join her. Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he climbed onto the bed and gathered her close to him.

Later that night, or early that morning as the case may be, Lorelai was watching the fire die down as she rested with her head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Luke had pulled the blankets up over them, but Lorelai kept pushing them back down in her quest to stroke every possible piece of his glorious body. She was thinking about what a contradiction the man was, humble, shy and reserved, but at the same time strong, confident, and incredibly sexy. She tilted her head back to check to see if he was still awake, and was met with his amused gaze. "Is there some reason that you keep uncovering me?" he asked with a smile in his voice.

"You're too pretty to be covered all of the time." She responded, leaning up on an elbow to stare at him. "I am giving serious thought to burning all of that flannel. This," she said tapping his bare chest, "my friend, is a crime to cover up."

"Ah, but if I don't have my flannel, what would protect me from Miss Patty?" he asked, in mock horror.

"She wouldn't dare touch my man." Lorelai boasted, "I would protect you."

"Your man, huh?" he asked, happier than he had ever felt in his life.

"Yep, my man," she said possessively, kissing his chest, and burning a trail up to his neck. "Maybe I need to mark my territory." She said with a devilish gleam in her eye.

"I don't think that will be necessary." He said trying to fend off her advance on his neck. "I trust that you would never let anything happen to me, once I start parading around shirtless."

Lorelai rested her head on his chest again. "Okay, I won't burn the flannel." She conceded, with a sigh, "but I have to say, it seems a shame."

He kissed the top of her head, and resumed stroking her long hair. "Happy?" he asked quietly.

"Completely." She answered without hesitation. Lorelai began tracing patterns across his chest. "Can we stay here?" she asked shyly.

"Forever?" he asked with a smile.

"That would be good, but I was think for an hour or two more, before we have to head back to our rooms tonight." She chuckled.

"Yeah. We can stay awhile. Rory won't worry?" he asked, concerned.

She loved that he thought that way, and leaned up again to kiss his lips softly. "No." she said, pressing her forehead to his, "I told her that Mommy would probably be very late turning in tonight." Luke groaned a little, embarrassed that Rory knew what was going on. "Its okay, Luke, no details were asked or answered, besides she knows that we are grown ups, and sometimes Mommy and Daddy need a little grown up time." She teased.

"Ha. Very funny." He replied dryly as she began rubbing her leg against his thigh. "So," he said swallowing thickly, "are you sleepy?" he asked.

"Nope." She answered with a grin.

"Hungry?" he asked, trying again.

"Not for food." She replied with a big wink.

"Good." he said, flipping her under him, and pressing her into the mattress. "Because I don't intend to waste a moment of our 'grown up time' together."

"Me either." She said as she kissed him eagerly.

Just before dawn, Luke walked Lorelai the 30 feet to her room, because that is what a gentleman does at the end of the evening. Near her door, he stopped and whispered "Can I see you tonight?" into her ear.

"Most definitely." she whispered back, placing a soft kiss on his ear, and then on his lips.

Lorelai turned the handle and slipped into her room as quietly as she could. She sat on the edge of her bed for a moment, staring at her hands with a smile playing at her tugging at her mouth.

Suddenly, she saw the covers move on Rory's bed, and a raspy voice called out to her "Mom?"

"Yeah it's me, baby." She got up to stroke Rory's hair soothingly, "Go back to sleep."

"Okay." Rory mumbled and burrowed into her pillow.

Once she was sure her daughter was asleep, she climbed into her own bed, staring at the ceiling with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. "Rory," she said in the barest whisper, "I think I'm in love with Luke." Lorelai knew that her daughter couldn't hear her , but she felt lighter having voiced the thought that had been running through her head all night. "I'm in love with Luke." She whispered to herself again as she drifted off to sleep.


	16. Unspeakable

The next morning, Lorelai was busy thanking her guests as they departed the inn, when Luke and Jess came downstairs. Luke tried and failed to control the grin that spread across his face upon seeing her chatting with her friends. _Wow,_ he thought to himself, _this is really happening! I get to be with that girl._ He wanted to shout to everyone around him, _hey Bootsy, you see that beautiful woman? She's with me. I'm her man. She said so herself. Hey Taylor, stop bugging my girlfriend! Sorry Patty, you'll have to pinch someone else's butt now, mine's taken! _Finally, Luke noticed Jess staring at him with a bemused expression, and forced his feet to move again. Jess smirked as Luke brushed by him, ignoring his nephew's knowing look, moving purposefully toward his ultimate goal. When he reached her, the smile broke through full force, mirroring the one that she wore.

"I swear, we must look goofy." He groused.

"You're going to complain to me? This morning?" she teased, "You may want to rethink that, buddy." She said with a light sock to the arm.

"Well, pal," he said sarcastically, "I've gotta go and open the diner, are you coming by when you're done here."

"Will there be coffee?" she asked as if pondering the prospect.

"More than likely." He replied dryly.

"Where there is coffee, there is Lorelai." She pronounced majestically, leaning in for a kiss. After Luke obliged, she gave him a little wave saying "Bye doll. Bye Jess, I hope that you had a good time."

Jess nodded and said "It was interesting; I'll give you that, thanks for the invite."

"You're welcome." Lorelai replied politely, "I'll see you guys later." She said, and turned to thank more of her guests.

Early that afternoon, Lorelai and Rory finally collected their belongings, and left the day crew to finish straightening things out for the next day's guest arrivals. They deposited their bags at home, and Lorelai told Rory that she was going to Luke's for coffee. Rory decided to tag along so that she could loan Jess the book that they had talked about the night before. Upon entering the diner, Lorelai sat at a table while Rory went to the counter to talk to Jess. Luke swung by the table with a mug of coffee for Lorelai. She looked at him with exaggerated adoration and exclaimed "You are my special angel!" before taking a greedy sip.

Luke shuffled his feet nervously and looked around before leaning over to speak softly to her. "Bad news." He said, "Jess want to take the night off, apparently he has a date with some girl, Shawn or Shane or Shannon something. Caesar is already off tonight, so I have to close. He's been so good about stuff here lately, I just couldn't tell him 'no', you know?" he explained rapidly.

"No," she said disappointed, but understanding. "That's okay, we can go out another night."

Seeing the disappointment flicker across her features, Luke slid into the chair next to her and leaned forward to speak to her discreetly. "If you wanted," he began hesitantly, "you could come by here at about 9:00. I should be able to close early tonight, it's Sunday, and it will be slow. I can close and we could, you know, hang out here if you wanted." He voice trailing off with uncertainty.

"Here?" Lorelai asked looking around the diner, "What, so you want to paint again or something?"

Frustrated, Luke shook his head, "Not here, here. Upstairs here. Jess will be out…" he let the thought hang between them.

Lorelai's eyes lit up, and she leaned in and said with mock sincerity, "Why, Luke, are you asking me to come up to your apartment unescorted?"

"Yes." He growled at her.

"But, Luke, what will people think? If I were to go up to your apartment with you, all alone, what would you do with me?" she asked, a hand pressed over her heart, her eyelashes batting furiously, she picked up her coffee to take a sip.

"Unspeakable things." He answered firmly, in a low voice, causing her to choke a bit on her coffee.

Lorelai was shocked and excited by his answer, she eyed him with new respect. _This bad Luke is so damn good!_ She thought giddily. Aloud she said, "Hot Dog!" slamming her palm on the table as she stood on slightly wobbly legs, "I will see you at 9:00!" pointing at him with raised eyebrows. She tried to be cool as she walked to the counter to tell Rory that she was leaving to go see Sookie. She threw one last glance over her shoulder at Luke as she walked out, and was surprised to find him wiping down the table they had been sitting at as if nothing had happened. _Maybe he had to mop up my drool_, she thought disparagingly. W_ell, he's going to pay for that little show! _Lorelai thought as she marched determinedly to Sookie's house.

Several hours, and one shopping trip later, Lorelai was locked and loaded when she entered the diner, confident that her artillery was strong. She strode up to the counter where Luke was checking his watch. "Hey," he said, "it's only 8:30, you're early." He noted with a pleased smile.

"Well, I like lookin' at ya." She replied with a saucy grin.

That smug-man-look stole over his features as he leaned in to kiss her hello. When he straightened, he said casually "The kitchen is clean, I just need to let that last table finish up, and then I'll shut it down for the night."

"Good." She said eyeing the couple who were finishing their meals, "I'll flip the sign so no one else comes in." Lorelai walked over to the door and turned the sign to 'closed' just as the couple dropped a tip on the table and walked to the register to pay.

Once they had been taken care of , and ushered out, the door was locked behind them, and Lorelai grabbed Luke's hand to lead him upstairs. He pulled his hand back and said, "You go on up, I just have to sweep this part of the floor, and I will be done."

Lorelai nodded and turned to head for the stairs calling "I'll be waiting. Don't take too long, lover boy!" Luke chuckled and dashed for the broom the minute she was out of sight.

Meanwhile, Lorelai entered the apartment and gazed around trying to figure out what her best plan of attack would be. She settled for leaning back against the counter casually, her coat still belted tightly around her waist. In just a few short minutes, she heard the sound of his boots on the stairs. When he opened the door, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her slowly opening her coat to reveal only a silky, powder blue teddy underneath.

She saw him swallow the lump that had risen in his throat, flex his jaw and struggle for control.

"Lorelai, are you nuts?" he asked. Not exactly the response she was hoping for, she threw her head back and stared at him defiantly, waiting for him to say something that was more to her liking. He stepped closer to her, trying to keep his eyes from popping out of his head. "I can't believe you went out in nothing but that," he said waving his hand at her, "and your coat! You'll catch your death!"

She softened a bit, realizing that his reaction was only because he wanted to keep her safe and warm. "Do you like it?" she asked.

"I love it. But I don't love the idea of you getting sick." He replied gently, shaking his head. "Please tell me that you at least drove over here." He said with mock severity.

"Yes, Doctor Danes, I drove, and I had the heater blasting the whole time, I swear!" she held up one hand, giving him a Boy Scout salute.

"Well, that being the case…" he said as he swept her up into his arms, chuckling at her yelp of surprise, and strode to his bed quickly. He placed her gently on the bed and stood back to drink in the sight of her. Her dark curls were spread over his pillow, her breasts peeking enticingly from the top of her lingerie, her long legs bare and smooth, her eyes, Lorelai's glorious eyes, inviting him to come to her. It was as if his every dream had come true. Luke knelt beside the bed and held her gaze affectionately stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. "Sometimes, I think that I may be dreaming." He murmured, not realizing that he spoke his thoughts aloud.

"You're not dreaming." She said gently, reaching up to take his hand in hers, "Touch me, Luke." She commanded. He stood, and without a word, began to remove his clothing, his eyes never leaving hers.

When he stretched out beside her on the bed, she reached for him to kiss him passionately. Teasing her fingernails through the hair on his chest, she sent him a flirtatious glance and said "You mentioned things earlier…"

"Unspeakable things." He returned with a cocky smile.

"Try to shut me up." She said challengingly.

He turned his smile up to full wattage, and traced her lips with his fingertip. "Oh, I'll tell you exactly how it will go. You'll tease me, and then I'll tease you. You'll taunt me, and I will taunt you back. You will moan my name, and I will whisper yours to the heavens. You'll make that sexy purring noise in the back of your throat, and I will groan manfully. But finally, finally Lorelai, there will be no words at all, because everything that I will say, and do to you will make it clear that we won't need any words at all. I promise you that." He said pressing her hand to his heart.

She looked up at him, aroused and enamored, and said "Would you please just shut up and kiss me?"

So he did.


	17. Bugs and Baskets

**A/N: Thank you for all of your comments. Just to put some concerns at rest, let me state for the record that Christopher Hayden has no place in my world. While I plan to continue incorporating parts of the show into this storyline, my world is a happy place, and I plan to keep it that way. There may be some drama in future chapters, but there will be no angst, and no ridiculous love triangles. I hope to begin moving things forward a little faster now that L/L have gotten together, so I may not be faithful to each and every episode. I hope that makes some of you feel a little better. I am not sure yet how I will wrap this up, so your suggestions are always welcome. For now, I guess I will continue to go with the flow. Thanks for your continued support!**

Bugs and Baskets

A while later, Lorelai was propped up in Luke's bed with the sheet wrapped around her, as she watched him pull on his sweatpants and t-shirt. She giggled a little when he plopped down on the couch in exasperation, and began to pull some old running shoes onto his bare feet. "Why didn't you bring them in with you?" he asked, annoyed with her.

"I didn't want to spoil the effect." She replied with a shrug.

Luke shook his head and pushed himself up from the couch. He left the apartment, jogging down the steps, through the diner, and out to her car, where he grabbed a pile of clothing that was sitting on her passenger seat. He pushed the car door shut, and spun around to find Jess standing behind him on the sidewalk, smirk firmly in place. "Don't say a word!" Luke warned as he glanced down to see Lorelai's lacy panties dangling from the wad of material in his hand. A deep flush colored his cheeks as he looked back at his nephew with a defiant gleam in his eye. "Why are you back so early?" he demanded.

"Check your watch, Uncle Luke, it's almost midnight. I have school tomorrow and so did she. I guess time really does fly…" Jess laughed and continued "I take it you need a little more time?" he asked sardonically.

Luke ran his fingers through his hair and stared at his feet mumbling "Give me 15 or 20 minutes, okay?"

"Okay, Uncle Luke, I'll just wander the streets of our fair town while I wait. But, you'd better hurry; you never know what mischief I can get into at this late hour." Jess said walking away as he laughed at his uncle.

"It's just Luke, damn it." He groused at his nephew, "and, thanks." He said as he dashed for the door to the diner and up the stairs. He had to get Lorelai dressed and on her way home, pronto.

The next couple of weeks fell into a more familiar pattern. Lorelai would come in each morning, demand coffee and her recommended daily allowance of grease for breakfast. Luke would protest, she would triumph. She would stop by in the afternoon for a to-go cup and a kiss. Lorelai and Rory would pop in for dinner on the nights that she and Luke did not have a date, because she really did like looking at him. They had dinner at the house to celebrate Rory's excellent PSAT score, and even Jess was in attendance. The teenagers spent most of the evening rolling their eyes and mocking the besotted couple mercilessly. Lorelai and Luke stole whatever 'grown up time' together they could manage, but it wasn't nearly enough. Things were starting to get a little desperate.

Luke came over one afternoon to fix the hole in the porch where Lorelai's foot went through the rotted wood. He proceeded to look under the house and confirmed that she did indeed have termite damage as Kirk had reported, and that the supports under the house would need to be repaired. She sat on the step moaning about her inability to get a loan and venting about Rory telling her mother that she needed money to pay for the repairs. Luke looked at her nervously, knowing that what he was about to do would possibly anger her. Lorelai covered her face with her hands mumbling "I'm so screwed!"

"Not necessarily." He replied.

"Luke, I need fifteen thousand dollars which I can't find, don't have, and if I don't find, the house is gonna fall down." She ranted. 

"I can help you with that." He tried to say casually.

"You can?" she looked up hopefully. 

"Yeah, I can get a couple guys, we can get in there and do the work." He said as if it were no big deal. 

"You can fix this?" she asked, amazed. 

"Well, I can help." He said with a shrug, "I know a good contractor. He did some work on the diner." 

"What about the money?" she asked, feeling a ray of hope peek through. 

Luke rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Um, you won't have to deal with that right away." 

"I won't?" she asked, feeling her ray of hope being smothered under a cloud of suspicion. 

"No, you can pay it out in installments if you want. Monthly, bimonthly, whatever - whatever you're comfortable with." He could not meet her speculative gaze, so he stared at his feet instead. 

"So, let me get this straight. Uh, you and some guys who actually know what they're doing are gonna come over and fix my house, and I can pay them back whenever I want?" she asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

"That's right." Seeing that she wasn't buying it. 

"Because I'm Tony Soprano?" she asked sarcastically. 

"Only scarier." Luke confirmed, part of him believing it. 

"Now Luke, when I finally do make out this installment check, uh, who should I make it out to?" Lorelai asked with mock innocence. 

"Well, you can make it out to me if you like." He answered casually. 

"Oh, so basically you would be fronting me the money?" she said as if the light was just beginning to dawn on her. 

"Well, yeah, but it's no big deal." He said, waving it off. 

"Luke, that's a loan." She replied in a no-nonsense voice. 

"No," he said trying to salvage his plan, " it's just a temporary exchange of money for services that will be paid back when you finally have the. . . it's a loan." He said finally admitted hanging his head. 

Lorelai smiled up at him, "Man, you suck as a liar. Thank you." She said simply. 

"You're welcome." He replied affectionately. 

"I can't take it." she stated firmly.

Luke sighed, resigned, "I know, but it was worth a shot."

She patted his knee and stood up from the steps saying "I'll figure it out, okay? Please don't worry. If I really need help, I promise I will come to you." She looked down to see the hope in his eyes. "But, only if there is no other way." She insisted.

"I understand." He said quietly.

"Now, come on," she said pulling him up from the step, "Let's go neck on the couch until my daughter comes home and busts us!"

Lorelai finally agreed to let her mother co-sign the loan for her, and the repairs began immediately. Life tripped along fairly easily, and the winter began to melt into spring. Lorelai bounced into the diner one Saturday morning holding a wicker basket over her arm. Luke smiled when he saw her and asked "What's the matter? Did you stray from the yellow brick road?"

"No, Scarecrow, this is my basket for the festival." She answered as she jumped up onto her usual stool.

Luke groaned as he poured her coffee. "Lorelai, I told you that I was not going to participate in that ridiculous festival thing." And the rant began, "You may like all of that crazy town stuff, but I don't, and I am telling you again, I won't be taking part in all of the madness."

"Easy boy!" Lorelai held up her hand to slow him, "I know that you aren't going, that's fine." She said easily.

He eyed the basket suspiciously, "Then what are you doing with that thing?' he asked.

"Well," she returned, "just because you're a stick in the mud, doesn't mean I have to be, I'm going to have a basket in the auction, anyway." She said with a nod.

Luke was stunned. "But," he stammered, "you're my girlfriend." He stated as if she was unaware of her status.

"So?" she asked innocently.

"You're going to put a basket in the auction for some other guy to bid on?" he asked incredulously.

"Yep." She smiled, "You see, I have this plan…"

"Enlighten me." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, last year Roy Wilkins bought it and I got my sprinklers fixed for half price. So, I thought that since my rain gutters were completely clogged, if I could get the Collins kid to bite, I'd get that taken care of."

"Very practical." Luke complimented her methods.

"I thought so." She returned with a grin.

Trying to understand her motives, Luke asked, "So the participation in this thing was purely for home improvement reasons?"

"Yes." She answered with a nod.

He leaned down and propping his elbow on the counter, placed his chin in his hand, and gazed at her, torn between jealousy and respect, "You know, I could take care of those things for you." He said.

"Oh, I know that." She said waving his suggestion away, "But, the more time you spend working on my house, the less time you'll have working on me." She replied saucily, "It's a simple matter of prioritizing."

"I see." He responded, straightening up to stare down at her. "Well, it's good to know that I have a purpose in your life." He said, not knowing exactly why he felt offended.

Noting the cool tone that he used, she replied "Honey, all I am trying to say is that you have many, many purposes in my life." Reassuring him, "but sprinklers and rain gutters, while definitely within your capabilities, are not a big priority in mine. Time with you is."

He smiled and said, "I'll get your breakfast." as he turned to walk into the kitchen.

A short time later, the auction was in full swing. The diner was empty, so Luke watched the action from his usual place at the counter. He saw Kirk bid on Sookie's basket and win. _Uh, oh! Man, is Jackson in trouble now,_ he thought shaking his head, _how did he let that happen? _He saw Rory nudge Dean when her basket was up and the bidding began. He saw the crowd turn to look behind them to see who it was that was bidding against the guy who was trying to buy his girlfriend's basket. Luke scanned the crowd and saw Jess, lurking at the back. _Oh no._ he thought, _this could really bad. _He went over to the door and stepped outside to get a better look at what was going on. He saw Rory standing between Dean and Jess, and apparently, Dean was not happy.

He was so engrossed in the drama that was playing out beside the gazebo, that he missed the start of bidding on Lorelai's basket. He quickly refocused his attention on the auction, trusting that Rory would work out whatever was going on between Dean and Jess. Luke scanned the crowd again trying to determine who was bidding on Lorelai's basket. He didn't see the Collins kid out there at all, but he did see two guys that he did not recognize obviously in competition for the basket. _Who are those guys? Does Lorelai know them?_ His mind was racing._ What should he do? Do those guys know that they are fighting over some stale Pop Tarts and a Slim Jim? Was she really going to have lunch with some strange man?_ Luke found his feet moving toward the auction before he realized what he was doing. He heard the one guy raising the bid to forty-five fifty, with Taylor nodding like a bobble head doll the whole time. The second guy countered with forty-six and the bidding continued at a rapid pace. Luke's mind was reeling as the bids kept climbing higher. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, the bidding was up to forty-eight, so he pulled out his wallet to see how much cash he was carrying, and yelled "Fifty-two fifty!" over the crowd. Taylor was almost struck speechless when he realized who had made the last bid, he stood motionless, his gavel suspended in the air. "I have a life." Luke prodded him, to no avail.

Finally, Lorelai shouted "Fifty-two fifty, going once!"

Taylor snapped out of it and glared at Lorelai, "Hey, hey, that's my job! Fifty-two fifty going once, fifty-two fifty going twice . . ." he called.

"Oh Please, God" Lorelai prayed under her breath.

Taylor shouted "Sold for fifty-two fifty to Luke Danes!"

Lorelai squealed and ran to throw her arms around Luke. She clung to his neck, bouncing on the balls of her feet, screaming "You are the best boyfriend ever!"

Luke laughed and shook his head, not believing what he had just done. He tried to unwind Lorelai's arms from his neck before she accidentally choked him and said "I don't know why I just did that!"

"I'm so glad you did!" she exclaimed, pleased that he couldn't seem to help himself when it came to her. "Now we get to have a picnic together!" she said bouncing again and clapping her hands together excitedly.

Luke looked down to see the basket that Taylor had shoved at him grasped in his hand. With a doubtful glance at Lorelai, he lifted the lid to see that it did indeed contain Pop Tarts and a Slim Jim. "Oh yeah, some picnic we're going to have." He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Oh, come on." She cajoled him, "we'll just sit and make googley eyes at each other for a while. Please?" she looked up at him imploringly.

Once again, he felt himself drawn into her world of warmth and excitement, and he marveled at it. "Okay." He said finally, "Let me go check on Caesar, and I will fix us lunch."

"That's great!" she said excitedly as he began to stalk away, the basket still clutched firmly in hand, "I'll find us a great spot."

Calling back over his shoulder, "I'm not sitting on the ground!" he warned her.

"Okay, okay." She agreed, "Oh! Meet me in the gazebo. I'll scare everyone else off so that we can have it to ourselves." She saw his nod of acceptance as he crossed the street and bounded up the steps to the diner.

A few minutes later, he reappeared in the gazebo, two take out boxes in hand with drinks balanced on top. She took the drinks and set them on the bench so that he could sit, and he handed her a box. She opened in to find a burger loaded with everything and some crispy fries. She beamed at him and said without thinking "See, this is why I love you!" Realizing her slip too late, she felt the blush creeping into her cheeks.

After staring at her solemnly for a moment, Luke shook his head a little and said lightly, "You love me for my burgers, huh?"

She smiled at him gratefully, shrugged and said "Among many, many other things."

"Good." he replied, his eyes never leaving her face, "That's good. I love you, too, Lorelai." and passed her the cup of coffee that he brought for her.


	18. Worst Fears and Answered Prayers

**A/N: So, I am taking a little ribbing about the updating thing… I guess that I could just write them and post less frequently, but I know that when I am reading a story, I like the updates to be there yesterday. I probably won't be able to keep this pace, but things have been pretty slow for the last couple of weeks, and this is keeping me quiet and occupied…**

Worst Fears and Answered Prayers

_We're in love. _Lorelai thought with a dreamy expression on her face as she strolled home after their picnic,_ L-O-V-E, love! _She gloated to herself_, I love Luke and Luke loves me! I can't wait to tell Rory! Well, she's a smart girl, so she has probably figured it our by now, but I can't wait to tell her that I told him. Kind of. Well, he told me – definitely. Maybe I should have been clearer with him. Maybe he doesn't know that I really meant it. _Working herself up a bit, she dashed up the steps and through the front door, grabbing the phone and dialing the diner before her butt even hit the couch.

"Luke's!" he answered the phone.

"Luke." She sounded panicked. _Okay, Lorelai, do it. Do it for real this time! She tried to psyche herself up._

"Lorelai?" he asked, "Are you okay? Is Rory okay? What happened?" he asked, worried. _I just saw her five minutes ago! What could have happened between then and now? Maybe I scared her. Oh, God, I knew it was too soon. She was just kidding, and I had to lay all of that on her! Dumb, Danes, dumb!_

She heard the concern in his voice, and her heart melted all over again. "No, no, sorry, we're all okay. Nothing's wrong. As a matter of fact, everything is right!" she babbled.

"Wow. You sounded upset. You scared me." He confessed gruffly.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I just realized…" she stumbled over her words, trying to get the right ones out, "I mean, I want to be sure that you know… I wasn't joking around… I mean, I was, but I meant it, really. Oh damn, I really suck at this!"

"Lorelai, spit it out!" he said getting frustrated with her rambling, and still trying to figure out what freaked her out so badly.

"Spit it out?" she snorted, "Okay, I will! I love you Lucas Danes. I just wanted to be sure that you were clear on that, okay? I love you." she said, tossing her hair back and standing with her hand on her hip, prepared for a fight.

"I know!" he said getting annoyed because she was so agitated, "You told me that earlier, and I told you that I felt the same way, too. So, what's the problem?" began to yell into the phone.

Struck by two of them screaming their declarations of love at each other, Lorelai started laughing and could not stop. Between hysterical fits of laughter she managed to say, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Luke finally calmed down enough to see the humor in their conversation, and began to chuckle himself, pulling the phone cord around the corner and down into the storeroom, he said "So you called to tell me that you love me?" he asked affectionately.

Still trying to contain her laughter Lorelai sputtered an emphatic "Yes!" into the phone.

Smiling softly he commented, "You're nuts, but I love you, too. I have to go." He said peeking out into the diner, "Lots of people out there right now. I'll call you later. Try to get a hold on yourself by then, okay?"

This sent her into another peal of laughter has gently hung up the phone.

As the springtime deepened, so did their relationship. Luke and Lorelai were forced to take their 'grown up time' where they could get it. Frantic make out sessions on the bench set of his truck, with left them both surly and dissatisfied. Quick wrestling matches in the storeroom when the diner was empty. Hasty lovemaking when Jess happened to be out for a couple of hours. They had never actually spent the night sleeping in the same bed, a fact that drove Lorelai to distraction. One of them always had to get up and sneak home before Rory or Jess would find them missing. It wasn't the ideal relationship for either of them, but they were happy none the less.

Still, there were some bumps in the road. Lorelai still wasn't crazy about Jess, but she was learning to tolerate him. She was a little concerned with Jess' apparent interest in Rory, but her daughter seemed to be fairly secure in her relationship with Dean. Rory continued to cultivate Jess' friendship, which made Lorelai a little nervous, but ultimately she trusted that Luke would never let Jess near Rory if he thought that he might hurt her.

Rory's dad, Christopher came to town with his new girlfriend, whom Lorelai referred to as 'the stick insect' when telling Luke about the meeting, saying "You'll understand when you see her," tickled with her analogy. Actually, Sherry wasn't too bad once you got past the initial perkiness. Lorelai was actually happy for Chris. He seemed to be settling down, finally, and maybe it would be good for Rory to have him in her life more. Lorelai decided to reserve judgment on that one.

Lorelai and Rory even took them to the diner for lunch while they were in town. Rory had been the one to grab Luke's arm and introduce him to her dad and his girlfriend who greeted him cordially until Rory insisted that Luke join them, and it became apparent that he and Lorelai were a couple, and that Rory approved of the family portrait that they portrayed. Lorelai could see Christopher's hackles rising, but Rory's innocent comments on all the ways Luke has taken care of them over the years made it obvious to Christopher that Luke had earned his way into their lives, and he had not.

Of course, Christopher's appearance in their lives also meant that Emily Gilmore decided that it was open season on Lorelai's love life again. She railed at her daughter for keeping him at arms length, not allowing Emily to be involved in her life and probed for more information about her current dating status. In a grave miscalculation, Lorelai blurted out that she was in a relationship and very happy regardless of what Emily thought of the life she had chosen. The gleam of triumph in her mother's eye when the admission slipped out was enough to send Lorelai into a panic. She tried to backpedal, but she was trapped and Rory tried desperately to help.

"Luke is really great, Grandma, he really means a lot to Mom and me." She said trying to convince Emily that Lorelai's choice is a good one.

"Luke?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

Knowing that she was defeated, Lorelai conceded, "Luke Danes, Mom, you've met him before."

Nodding with comprehension Emily said, "Ah, the man from the diner, right?"

"Yes." Lorelai stated proudly, "Luke owns the diner in town. We've been dating for a few months, now."

Seeing her daughter's jaw set with determination, Emily decided that she needed to change tactics. "I want to meet this Luke Danes" she declared.

"You've met him." Lorelai replied.

Shaking her head Emily returned, "Not in this capacity. I need to re-meet him."

"Well, I'm sure that day will come." Lorelai said trying to dodge the bullet.

"Next week." Emily commanded.

"What?" Lorelai's head popped up with shock. She had the look of a caged animal in her eyes.

"You have a gentleman friend of significance," Emily started condescendingly.

"Rhett is my gentleman friend, yes." Lorelai quipped, winking at Rory, trying to distract and confuse the enemy.

"So it's only proper that you introduce him to your mother. Unless he's insignificant; I don't want to meet a passing ship. That's a waste of my time. Is Luke a passing ship? Is he insignificant?" she prodded Lorelai.

"No, he's not." Lorelai admitted with a pout.

Standing up from the table, Emily said "I'll get my book and we will pick a date next week." And the subject was closed for the evening.

Lorelai dragged her feet as they walked from the car to the diner that night. She dreaded telling Luke about dinner with her parents. "Poor guy." She moaned to Rory.

"Mom, it will be okay. Luke is a grown man. Surely, he can handle one dinner with them!"

Lorelai spun around and grabbed Rory's arm. "Don't you see? That's the problem. He will think that he can handle it, but he has no idea. Look at him, Rory!" she gestured toward the window of the diner, "He's a nice man. He doesn't stand a chance with them! It's that whole lions vs. Christians thing all over again!"

"Mom, I think you may be over exaggerating a bit." Rory tried to talk her mother off of the ledge.

"No, Rory, I'm not. We know that Luke is the best. He's sweet, caring, honest and trustworthy. Richard and Emily Gilmore know nothing about those words. They will demean him. They will break his spirit, and all we will have left is an empty shell of a man. They will suck the life right out of him!"

"Poor Luke!" Rory exclaimed with mock horror.

"Poor Luke." Lorelai agreed, "Poor hard working, gruff on the outside, soft in the middle Luke, Protector of all Gilmore Girls. How can we shield him, Rory? What can we do to save our Luke?" Lorelai said shaking her head in despair.

Laughing at her mother's antics, Rory grabbed her arm and said, "Come on my little drama queen, it's time to fess up to what you have done and face the music. We can strategize later." She promised as she propelled her mother through the door.

Drooping dramatically into her chair, Lorelai waited for him to approach. When he reached their table, she grabbed his hand and pressed desperate kisses to the back of it saying "My Luke! My poor, poor Luke! What have I done? What have I done?"

He looked at Lorelai as if she had lost her marbles, and then glanced at Rory asking "Is she off her meds?"

Rory just shook her head sadly and said "No, she has had a tragic evening, though. I'm going to go talk to Jess for a minute." She said rising, she patted Luke on the shoulder and said gravely, "Just remember, Luke, you meant the world to us, and we will never forget you." Before she strolled to the counter to see what Jess was reading so intently.

"Okay," Luke said sliding into the chair across from Lorelai while she continued to cling to his hand, "what's going on with you two?"

Lorelai hung her head contritely and confessed in a low voice, "I accidentally told my mother about us tonight, and now they want you to come to dinner."

"Accidentally?" he asked confused, "Tonight? You mean she didn't know that we were dating all this time?"

"Well, Luke," she tried to explain, "You know that my parents and I are not exactly close…"

"We've been dating for months, Lorelai! You see them every week. How could you not tell them?" he asked in a hurt tone.

Seeing the pain in his eyes, Lorelai rushed to explain, "Luke, you know that my parents don't approve of the way I have chosen to live my life, right? I mean, you have heard me complain enough about them over the years, so you should know. They hate everything about my life, with the exception of Rory. My parents are very harsh, hyper-critical people, Luke. I share as little information about myself with them as possible." She finished, pleading with him to understand.

"Did you not want to tell them because of me? I mean, I know that I am probably not what they have in mind for you…" he asked quietly.

"No! Luke, no." she said vehemently, "Look at me, please." When he raised his eyes to hers, he saw the pride and love in them. "I love you. I am the happiest woman in the world. My parents are cold, shallow people, Luke. I just refuse to let them take this happiness from me. I won't let them belittle you or us. I love you. I love us. I just didn't want you to ever have to witness this, them, you know?" she asked pleading with him to understand.

"Okay." He exhaled loudly, pressed his hands to his knees and stood. He looked down at her and tapped his fingers on the table saying "Book it." before he walked away.

Lorelai jumped up to chase him, "Did you hear what I said? Parents, dinner, us? That's on a par with car, test, crash test dummy. Don't worry, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get us out of this. I promise.

"Why?" he asked, beginning to get annoyed.

"What do you mean, why?" she asked him, his disbelief written all over her face.

"Let's just do it, get it over with. Meeting the parents comes with the territory." He said with exasperation, "We can't put it off forever."

"Luke!" she cried, determined to make him see reason.

"Book it." He said firmly, pointing a finger in her direction.

"Okay." Lorelai answered skeptically, "But I'm warning you. If I call and tell her, and then you change your mind and you want to back out, we're going to have to leave the country. And have extensive facial surgery, and sex changes. Both of us, so that we can, you know, kiss and not look funny."

"I'm not going to change my mind." Luke stated with finality.

"Alright." She decided to change to a more pleasant topic. "Hey, Rory is staying with Lane tomorrow night, are you free?"

"Dear God, yes!" Luke answered, a devilish gleam in his eye. "All night?" he asked hopefully.

"All night." She confirmed with a grin.

"Thank the Lord." He muttered under his breath as he proceeded to clear the counter of used dishes.

She smiled smugly, "You had better thank Him," she commented, "If I have my way, you'll be asking for His intercession pretty often." She quipped, sipping at her mug of coffee.

"Hey, watch out for that lightening bolt!" he said stepping back from her.

"Har, har." She said straight faced, "We'll see if you're so funny when I'm done with you, mister!" she added with an exaggerated wink.

"Looking forward to it." He said as they shared a smile.


	19. Stay WIth Me

Stay With Me

The following evening, Lorelai and Rory breezed through the door of the diner with Lorelai calling "Burger Boy, oh Burger Boy! Your fan club is here! Come out and give us your autograph!" as they plopped down at a table, Rory swinging her bulging backpack to the floor. Luke stepped out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a towel and scowling in their direction. "There he is!" Lorelai squealed like a besotted teenybopper, "Isn't my boyfriend dreamy?" she asked Rory in a girly voice.

Nodding, Rory agreed, "Ever so dreamy!"

"He's sooo handsome, dark and brooding. All I have to do is dress him in a white shirt and breeches, and wet him down, and voila! I have my very own Mr. Darcy." Lorelai cooed, batting her eyes at him.

"Ahhh" Rory played along, heaving a huge sigh and gazing up at Luke with her chin in her palm.

"What's gotten into the two of you?" he asked gruffly, trying hard not to be amused by their antics.

"You, baby," Lorelai flirted, "I've got you under my skin."

"You know, that could just be a rash." Rory quipped.

"Nah. The doctor, doctor gave me the news, I got a bad case of lovin' you!" she crooned to him.

"Oh geez," He said, rolling his eyes and pointing his finger at Lorelai sternly, "No more coffee for you." Rory snickered at her crestfallen face before Luke rounded on her, "And, you stop egging her on."

"But, Luke, that's my job!" Rory said indignantly, "It's the only reason she keeps me! If I don't help to keep her entertained, she'll kick me out, and I will have to live on the street." Rory turned the doe eyes on him, and said in a sincere tone, "I may look all tough and stuff, but really Luke, I wouldn't last a day. It's a jungle out there!" At that, both girls collapsed into giggles.

Shaking his head, Luke spun on his heel and started to walk away from them. Lorelai reached out and snagged the belt loop on his jeans crying "Wait, wait. Don't go. We'll be good, I promise." Sending them both into fresh gales of laughter.

He folded his arms across his chest, and stared down at them with a frown, waiting for them to regain their senses. Finally, Rory straightened up and said, "You were right, Mom, that was fun!" Standing up, she reached for her backpack, and swung it onto her shoulder, "Now you two kids try to behave yourselves while I'm gone. I should be home at about 11:00 tomorrow, so be sure to scope the house for anything that may damage my psyche before then, okay?" she asked as she leaned down to kiss Lorelai, then turned to give Luke an awkward one-armed hug. She waggled her fingers at a grinning Lorelai and a blushing Luke as she slipped out of the door.

"Geez, Lorelai, you share too much information with her!" Luke groused.

"You know, for a guy who is about to spend an entire night basking in the glory that is Lorelai, you seem awfully cranky." She commented annoyed with his attitude.

Luke softened and smiled at her as he slid into Rory's abandoned chair. "Sorry," he said abashed, "It has been a really long day. Lots of weirdness from our resident mental patients today. I almost decapitate Taylor with a frying pan." He confessed.

"How?" she asked intrigued.

Luke grinned at her, "It accidentally slipped from my hand and flew at his head." He said opening his hands in innocence.

"You threw a frying pan at Taylor when I wasn't there to see it?" she asked, incensed, "I hate you!" she said with a pout.

Placing a finger under her chin, he lifted it until she met his dancing eyes, "No," he said quietly, "You love me."

At this, she took his hand and brushed a feathery kiss to his knuckles. She leaned forward and said in a breathy voice, "I'm here to pick you up for our date, are you ready?"

"Dear God, yes." He said, pulling her out of her chair and calling "Caesar, I'm gone." toward the kitchen.

"Okay boss!" came Caesar's disembodied voice in reply.

As Luke led Lorelai out of the diner, she tried to stop him, but he kept a determined pace. Trotting to keep up with his impatient strides, Lorelai panted after him "Hey, don't you need to get your bag or something?" she asked.

"It's in my truck, I'll drive over." He said impatiently.

He opened the passenger door of his truck for her, and she hopped in. He slid into the driver's seat, turned the key and revved the engine. "Easy there Tex. We have all night." She reminded him, placing her hand on his arm.

He turned that penetrating blue stare on her and said "I know, and I am not wasting a minute of it!" as he threw the truck into gear and pealed out of the parking space with a squeal of tires.

"Whoo hoo!" Lorelai screamed with delight and thrust her fist into the air, and they laughed all the way to her driveway.

Their laughter was barely contained as they kissed their way across the yard in the waning daylight, stumbled on the steps, and pushed the door open so forcefully that it slammed against the foyer wall. Morey and Babette sat on their porch, enjoying the pleasant evening. After witnessing Luke and Lorelai's homecoming, Babette reached for Morey's hand. Morey looked at her meaningfully, "You ready to go in?" he asked.

"Yep." Babette answered in her no-nonsense way, and tugged him from his chair with a girlish giggle.

Once inside the house, Luke kicked the door shut behind him and pressed Lorelai up against the rail of the stairway. His hands were everywhere, his kisses raining over her face and neck. She tugged urgently at his flannel, popping a few buttons off. "I'll fix 'em." She promised between kisses, "just please don't stop."

"Never." He promised as he tugged her shirt up over her head and tossed it onto the coat rack. She pealed the t-shirt from him and ran her hands through the sprinkling of hair on his chest. He would swear that her hear her growl with arousal. He ravaged her neck and shoulders, his hands reaching to cup her breasts.

"Upstairs?" she asked breathless.

"Too far." He panted and pulled her down to the floor.

A short while later, Lorelai plucked her shirt from the coat rack and smiled over her shoulder at him saying "This must have been what Rory was alluding to."

Luke simply shook his head in response. He had pulled his boxers on, and moved behind her to wrap her in his arms, his chin resting on her curls. Kissing the top of her head, he said "I'm sorry. I guess that wasn't very romantic. I'll do better next time." He vowed.

She turned to him, unable to hide the twinkle in her eye, "Romantic? Probably not. Hot? Sexy? Fantastic? Definitely yes. Trust me, you did just fine this time." She replied. "Now, you march straight up those stairs and get in my bed, mister." She commanded with mock severity, pointing to the staircase.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied with a smirk as he sauntered towards the steps. She stood staring for a moment, drinking in the sight of Luke, almost naked, walking around her house as if he lived there. _I want this_. The little voice in her head said emphatically. He turned at the landing and quirked and eyebrow at her, "You coming?" he asked in that sexy drawl.

"Yes sir!" she replied enthusiastically and trotted after him.

When they reached her bedroom door, he glanced around the room to see that she had cleaned. Free of the usual Lorelai detritus, it was easy to see that she had prepared for this night with some care. There were candles scattered around the room, waiting to be lit with the lighter he saw on her dresser. The bed was made with pretty striped sheets, still feminine, but not so flowery that he would feel uncomfortable. There was a small vase of flowers on the bedside table, and a silky scarf draped over the lamp. Luke swept her into his arms and placed her gently on the bed. He stepped back, took the lighter and began lighting the candles. She watched his every move, devouring him with her eyes. She loved the play of his taut muscles under silky skin, the broad, strong shoulders, and the long tapered fingers that drove her wild. _Mine,_ she thought possessively, a feline grin spreading across her face, _he's all mine_. He lit the final votive near the bed and his breath caught as he looked at her in the flickering candlelight. He slid onto the bed, holding himself over her, mesmerized by the sight. "You're so beautiful." He whispered reverently.

"So are you." She whispered back.

A smile twitched at his lips. "I'm a man," he said gruffly, "men aren't beautiful."

"You are." Lorelai said, her fingertips tracing his face, "You are beautiful." With that he caught her lips in a slow, sensual kiss.

He made love to her slowly, letting their passion ebb and flow over them. When she opened her eyes, trying to recover from the flood of emotion that filled her, he was shocked to find them glistening with tears. "What's this?" he asked softly, catching a tear on his fingertip.

"Sometimes," she started hesitantly, almost afraid to look at him, "sometimes, I feel so much, you know? It's scary. My life is so wrapped up in you. You're everything, my lover, my friend, protector, food provider, and repairman. Hell, you are even the man in Rory's life. You care for her like you care for me, and that means the world to me." She explained earnestly. "When I am with you, I feel safe and secure."

"And that makes you cry?" he asked, not quite following her train of thought.

She chuckled at his confusion. "No, that make me feel, I don't know, full, I guess. I'm just so filled with you, with us, that sometimes, it's hard to hold it all in."

He shifted to her side, and trailed is fingers absently along her collarbone. "Lorelai, there is nothing I wouldn't do for you, or Rory for that matter. Whether this," he said, gesturing between them, "happened, or not."

"I know," she said with a smile, "I just feel so lucky. I also feel a little scared. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? I guess that's why I'm so nervous about taking you to my parents' house."

"It will be fine." He answered with conviction.

"Luke, you don't know them." She protested,

"That would be the point of the dinner." He said wryly.

"I'm serious." She said shifting to sit up and look him in the eye.

"Lorelai," he said patiently, "I have dealt with all types of people in my life. Rich, poor, snobby, proud. I can handle it, please trust me."

"I do. I do trust you." She said honestly, "I'm just afraid that they will say something or do something horrible."

He looked at her tenderly and said "Even if they do, I will not stop loving you."

"Promise?" she asked.

"Promise." He said, pulling her back to him.

She cuddled into him, resting her head on his chest, soothed by the steady beat of his heart. After a quiet moment she said "You are the only man I have ever made love to in my house."

"What?" he said shocked and flattered by her confession.

"It's true. Even when I was engaged to Max, he only slept here once, and I was so freaked out that I sneaked into Rory's room to sleep." She replied with a self deprecating smile.

"Really?" he laughed in disbelief. "Wow, that must have made him feel good."

Lorelai giggled at his reaction saying, "Poor Max."

"Yeah, too bad for him." Luke answered smugly. He thought about it for a minute, and then asked "How are you now? Are you freaking out? Do you want me to go home tonight?"

"No!" she practically shouted at him. He pulled her closer and stroked her arm soothingly. "That's just it. I want you here. I want to wake up with you."

"Good." He said firmly. After processing her words, his hand stilled on her arm as he asked "Does that mean that we will be sleeping tonight?"

She giggled into his neck and began nipping at it. "Probably not very much." She asserted.

As the sun began to peek through the curtains, Lorelai rolled over to find that Luke had been watching her sleep. "You know, if you didn't look so sexy and rumpled, that would have been kind of creepy." She teased, her voice husky from sleep, or lack of sleep as was the case.

"Sorry," he smiled at her, "I guess I am just used to waking up early."

"Well, I have to say, that I have never been a fan of it myself," she said sitting up and pushing her mass of curls out of her eyes, "but I have to admit that I can see that there may be advantages to being an early riser this morning." Lorelai trailed a teasing finger down his chest.

"Oh, there are advantages." He asserted as her raised her palm to his lips, staring up at her through his lashes. "Would you like me to demonstrate those advantages?" he asked solicitously.

"Oh yes," she said in a husky voice, "please feel free to take advantage of me." She invited.

Later, they crept downstairs, tired but exhilarated. Luke went into the kitchen to start her coffee, while Lorelai gathered the clothing that they had left strewn around the foyer. She stood in the doorway, watching him move around her kitchen in nothing but his boxers. She hugged the discarded clothes to her and said "I don't want to give these to you."

He raised an eyebrow at her and said "I doubt that Rory would appreciate that sentiment."

"I know." She replied looking at the floor. "Luke, I want this. You and me, this." She said waving a hand around the room.

"What do you mean?" he asked trying to follow her.

"I just hate that it could be weeks until we can be together again." She explained. "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the clandestine meetings in the storeroom, and I love a little afternoon delight up in your apartment, but this was so great." She said, a desperate edge to her voice.

"It has been great." He agreed. He sat down at the table and looked up at her. "So, what you are saying?" he asked slowly, "Are you saying that we should live together?"

She dropped the clothes in the doorway and walked over to sit across from him. "I don't know." She answered honestly. "That may be too much right now, what with Rory and Jess and all… I just know that I want to be able to wake with you at least some of the time, you know?"

"Yeah, me too." He agreed.

"I think, I need to talk to Rory about the possibility of easing the 'no boys in the house' rule a bit" she said.

"There's a rule?" he asked perplexed.

"Well, not really a rule, just more of a guideline. You really are the first man I have ever seriously thought about having here, with us. She is not a child anymore, she knows that we have sex, I just think that I should talk it over with her." She said pondering the possibility. "If she's okay with it, would you be okay with it?" she asked, knowing how reserved he is, especially where Rory is concerned.

He blushed even at the thought of it. "I guess so." He said hesitantly, "I don't know if I would be willing to, you know, with her here, that might be too weird."

"Okay." She nodded with understanding, "But you would be okay with having the occasional sleep over?" she asked, trying to clarify his stance.

Luke nodded slowly, the wheels turning in his mind. "Yes." He answered finally.

"Okay." Lorelai said blowing out a breath. "Well, I will talk to her about it, and we will see, alright?"

"Alright." Luke agreed, but Lorelai could see that he was still processing.

"Or not." She said, trying to hide her disappointment.

Luke was snapped out of his thoughts by her tone. "No!" he said, trying to catch up, "I mean, yes, that's good. It's good. I was just thinking that maybe I should find a bigger place for me and Jess." He quickly explained, "Something with walls and doors and some privacy. You are right," he stood up to pace around the room, "they are not little children, and neither are we. I guess our sneaking around and stuff isn't exactly setting the best example for them either."

"So, we talk to them?" she asked him hopefully.

"Yeah, we talk to them." He agreed with a sigh.


	20. Taking The Spruce

**A/N: This one is a little longer than usual because I used a lot of dialogue from the show. I just tweaked it to fit this story. Thanks again for all of your encouragement. I am really enjoying writing this, mainly because of the great feedback you have been giving me!**

Taking the Spruce

Later that morning, Lorelai had straightened up the house, and was sitting on the couch flipping channels distractedly, waiting for Rory to come home from Lane's house. She heard the front door open, and a tentative voice call "Hello?"

"Hey, kid!" Lorelai called back. "It's all clear!" she said with a smile.

"Hey, Rory said as she dropped her backpack near the couch and flapped down next to her mother, "So, how was your night?" she asked. Lorelai's smile grew, and she took a deep breath about to launch into her story about her discussion with Luke that morning. Rory quickly held up her hand to stop her, "No gory details, please!" she insisted.

"No gory details," Lorelai agreed with a laugh, "I just want to talk to you about something that Luke and I discussed this morning."

"Okay." Rory said, nodding encouragingly.

"Well," Lorelai stalled, trying to figure out how to approach her daughter, "you know that I love Luke, right."

"I saw that memo." Rory said with a sly smile.

"I mean, I really love him." Lorelai gestured trying to get her point across, "I'm IN love with him. And, well, this morning we were talking about how nice it was to be able to wake up with each other, you know? It was great, and well, we were trying to figure out a way that we could be able to spend more time together like that."

Rory nodded, smiling at her mother's radiant face, "I know, Mom. I'm really happy for you. And for Luke."

"I know you are, kid. I appreciate that." Lorelai took another breath and decided to plunge in. "We were wondering about how you would feel if he was here more often. You, know if he we're to stay here." She said awkwardly.

"You mean live here?" Rory asked, her brow furrowed.

"No! At least, not yet. I mean, if he were to sleep here sometimes. Would that be too weird for you?" she asked concerned.

"I guess not." Rory said, trying to process the request. "He's around a lot anyway," she reasoned, "I guess it would be okay."

"Yeah?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"Yeah. I mean, I hope he won't be walking around in his underwear or something, that would be weird." Rory said concerned.

Lorelai laughed that the thought of Luke parading around in his boxers with her daughter looking on. "Have you met Luke Danes?" she asked, "Rory, if Luke agrees to stay over, and you are anywhere on the premises, he will probably make me sleep with one foot on the floor." She snickered.

"True." Rory agreed with a laugh. "Yeah, that's true. Okay, so it's settled then? Luke can stay, but you promise not to scar me for life with images that I can't erase from my brain, right?"

"Right." Lorelai agreed with a decisive nod.

"Huh." Rory grunted, deep in thought.

"What is it, kiddo?" Lorelai asked, stroking her daughter's hair.

Rory turned to her mother and flashed her a brilliant smile, "I just realized something. If Luke sleeps here, do you know what that means?" she asked Lorelai.

Lorelai smirked in return, "Yes, that means you'll have one happy Mommy."

Shaking her head, Rory replied, "No and ick, okay? What I meant was that if Luke sleeps here, that means pancakes cooked in our very own kitchen! Oooh! And he can make the coffee too! Luke's coffee in our very own kitchen!" she exclaimed, clapping with delight.

"That's my baby!" Lorelai cooed, and pulled her daughter into a hug.

Later that evening, Lorelai stopped by the diner to give Luke a smootch before she and Rory settled in for movie night. She settled at the counter, and batted her eyes at him flirtatiously as he poured her a cup of coffee. "My man." She sighed, "My man takes care of my every need." She teased him.

"And I always will." He replied in his sexy Luke voice.

"So," she tried to keep the eagerness out of her voice, "have you had a chance to talk to Jess yet?"

He shook his head saying, "No, he's been out most of the day. I'll try to get him tonight, okay?" she nodded trying to hide her disappointment. "You talk to Rory? He asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yeah, she's cool." Lorelai replied with a contented smile. "She's actually pretty perked about it. She mentioned something about pancakes and our kitchen…" she trailed off with a sly smile.

"Yeah, well, I guess that is a price that I will have to pay." He shrugged, a cocky smirk on his face.

"And pay you will, mister." She assured him, sliding from the stool. "Call me later?" she asked.

"Why don't you call me when your movie is over, that way I don't interrupt." He said as he leaned over to peck her lips.

"'Kay." She said with a wistful glance up at him. She pressed one more kiss to his lips and then waggled her fingers at him as she slipped out of the door.

That night, Luke went up to his apartment to find it in a shambles. He was looking for his account book, and grew frustrated when he couldn't find anything under all of Jess' stuff, which had been sent from New York. He began tossing clothing, books, cds, and other junk around trying to clear a path through the wreckage. "Great! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

Jess popped up from his bed, trying to see what the problem was, "Whoa, geez, what the hell?"

" I can't stand it, I'm going crazy." Luke ranted, " This place is awful. I can't live like this anymore."

Jess tried to calm him by saying "Just relax." In an annoyingly laconic tone, that only served to spur Luke on.

"I can't relax. I can't sleep. I'm having nightmares about being chased around by boxes with arms and they tackle me and pile clothing on top of my face and secure it around my head with packing tape and I'm just lying there choking while you're sitting in the corner laughing, putting gel in your hair with a switchblade!" he raved.

"Should I be putting a tongue depressor in your mouth right about now?" Jess asked with a smirk.

"We're moving." Luke stated unequivocally.

"What?" Jess asked, trying to keep up.

Luke simply pointed a finger at his nephew, "Tomorrow."

He had Jess' full attention now, "What are you talking about?"

His hands on his hips, surveying the junk that had taken over like Tribbles, Luke explained, "I'm talking about you and me going out, getting a paper, and finding a new place to live."

"But I – " Jess started.

"No buts. Ten o'clock tomorrow morning I want you up, washed, moussed, and ready to leave, end of story." Luke commanded.

The next morning, Luke learned that apartment hunting with Jess proved to be only slightly more enjoyable than being bashed over the head repeatedly with a baseball bat. Luke tried his best to make Jess see that this was a good thing, to make him care about where they would live, but Jess determinedly stuck to his sullen attitude. "Why, what was wrong with that one?" he asked, getting frustrated.

"It was pink." Jess answered incredulously.

"We can paint it" Luke reasoned.

"You mean I can paint it." Jess sneered.

Luke tried to placate him, saying "We can paint it together."

Jess smirked at him again, "Great, then we can hold hands and skip afterwards."

"Jess" Luke growled impatiently.

"Fine," Jess answered resigned, "the one next to the bank."

Luke shook his head, "Too many windows."

"What?"

Luke explained "Six windows all on one side, three o'clock in the afternoon – we're sitting in an oven."

"So we get curtains." Jess said, he couldn't believe that they were having this argument.

Luke thought about it for a moment and said, "Well, you'll have to help me put them up."

Jess smirked at his uncle again, folding his arms over his chest in a mirror image of Luke, "Great, then we can hold hands and skip afterwards."

"Stop saying that!" Luke fumed.

Jess began to get frustrated too, "You know what, I don't care. Pick whichever one you want."

"I'm not picking by myself." Luke said stubbornly.

"You're the one who wants to move." Jess shot back.

"Oh, so you like living the way we do?" Luke said, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Fine by me." Jess deadpanned.

"No space, no privacy." Luke ranted.

"I got plenty of privacy." Jess taunted him.

"Well I don't! I want walls and a door!" Luke said stubbornly.

The light began to dawn on Jess. "Ah, I get it now. You want to be able to have your girlfriend over!" he smirked at his uncle.

"No! Well, yeah." Luke admitted, embarrassed.

"So, you're the one with the problem, you make the choice." Jess reasoned.

"Jess, come on." Luke tried pleading with him.

Jess solemnly looked back at his uncle, his eyes boring into him, "Hey, nobody asked me if I wanted to move to Stars Hollow, but I'm here. Pick whatever place you want and I'll be there too." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Luke standing on the sidewalk staring after him.

A short while later, the phone at the Independence Inn rang, and Lorelai answered it.

"Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking."

"I don't want a wood-burning fireplace." Luke was already mid-rant when the conversation began.

"Luke?" she asked.

"But if I take an apartment with a wood-burning fireplace, even though I could give a rat's ass about a wood-burning fireplace, I have to pay an extra two hundred dollars a month for the wood-burning fireplace." He continued.

"Yeah, but –" she tried to interject.

"And three of the places make you put down a five hundred dollar deposit if you have a dog. Can you believe this?" his rant continued.

"You don't have a dog." Lorelai replied soothingly.

"I know, but it's wrong." He asserted.

"Agreed." She placated him, "What else?"

"Parking."

"Ah." _And here comes round two_, she thought, settling in for a good rant with a smile on her face.

"How can people ask you for a monthly fee for a parking space? I mean, they're making money off your rent, off your utilities, when you use their coin-operated washer and dryer – that's cash directly in their pocket. And by the way, it's not even that good a parking space. It's out in the open under one of those trees that drops the sap on your car that eats away your paint."

"Luke?" she said, trying to reach him.

"Who's gonna pay for my car, huh? Where's my five hundred dollar, paint-killing tree sap deposit?" he demanded.

"You haven't found a place yet?" she asked softly.

Luke sighed, and muttered in a defeated voice, "And I've been looking all day."

Lorelai tried to cajole him, "There wasn't one place you liked?"

"No." Luke answered with a pout.

"Not one place that gave you a little feeling of, 'Huh, well that has a nice vibe about it.'"

"I don't use the word vibe." He growled at her.

"Luke." She prodded.

He began to give in, "Maybe one place wasn't so bad." He admitted.

"Oh good," she said with a smile "describe it to me."

He rubbed his forehead tiredly, "I don't know. It had walls with a kind of a floor with a light." He mumbled.

"Okay, hold on here, mister. If you tell me it's got a roof, I'm stealing that baby out from under you." She joked.

"I just can't tell anymore." He whined, "I need a second opinion."

Lorelai smiled and asked, "Do you want me to come look at your apartment?"

"It's not my apartment," he corrected automatically, "and yes."

"Done." She replied happily.

"Now." He demanded.

Lorelai was shocked, "What?"

"Please?" he pleaded with her.

"Uh, well –"she stopped to look around the inn, which wasn't terribly busy.

"I promised the woman I'd give her an answer today." He explained.

"Okay, give me the address." She relented.

"Sixty-two and a half B Street. And that's another thing – what's with this half business? Why do all these apartments have this half thing going? It's stupid. If sixty-two is taken, move on to sixty-three." He was getting worked up again.

Lorelai cut him off, "Luke, I'll meet you there in twenty and a half minutes."

He smiled at her little joke and said a grateful "Thank you." Before he hung up.

The apartment was roomy and light. The rental agent was very helpful in showing them around, but she was a little too perky for their taste, rambling about 'spruces' which made Luke dig in his heels. "A spruce is unnecessary." He grumbled.

"Hey, you never turn down a spruce." Lorelai retorted

"She's right" the agent, Mary, said, "listen to her."

"Yeah, listen to me." Lorelai gloated.

"You rarely give me a choice." Luke complained.

"Come here so I can lick your face." She retorted, seeing if she could get a rise out of him.

"What?" he asked, shaken by her command.

Mary continued as if nothing had happened, "Now, I went over the square footage and the details of the lease with your husband this morning. Did he fill you in?"

"What?" Luke stammered, "Oh no, we're – "

Lorelai cut him off smoothly, "No, no, he didn't, but you know how men are. The minute that ball game comes on, all the realities of life just go right out the window." She laughed.

Mary responded in a show of female solidarity, "Don't I know it."

Lorelai couldn't resist the impulse to have a little fun at Luke's expense, "I mean, I could answer the door wrapped in cellophane but unless I was wearing a Yankees cap. . .ugh, he wouldn't even notice."

"Geez." He groaned.

Lorelai turned a blinding smile on him and teased "Oh, don't be embarrassed Snuffy, I'm just teasing" she turned to Mary to clarify, "It'd be a Mets cap."

Luke rolled his eyes, and having had enough of Lorelai's silliness asked, "Hey Mary, could you possibly leave me and little missus alone for just a minute?"

"Why, of course." Mary was quick to answer, seeing that the couple really seemed interested in the place.

"I promise we won't do anything dirty." Lorelai said with mock sincerity.

Mary waved her off, "Oh please, if my husband and I looked anything like the two of you, we'd never get dressed!"

"Oh, you are bad!" acted scandalized.

"Let me just leave this rental agreement with you in case you decide to fill it out." She said as she handed the paperwork to Luke.

"Thanks." He said as she walked away.

Mary stopped at the door, turned to them and said with real sincerity "Oh, I hope you take it. It's got a great vibe for a nice couple like you two." And then she left.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked, shaking her hand from his arm.

Lorelai smiled at him, "You make it too easy." She shrugged.

"By standing here?" he demanded to know.

A wry smile twisted her lips, "Pretty much." She answered. Seeing that he was pretty tense about the whole thing, she tried to get him to talk it out. "Oh, relax Snuffy. Let's talk. What do you think?"

"She used the word vibe.' He sulked.

"About the apartment.' She prodded.

"I don't know." He wavered.

"Okay then," she said patiently, "break it down. List your concerns."

"Well, it's too big." He started

"It's not too big." She shot him down, and called "Next."

"I don't need two bathrooms."

"Yes, you do." She waggled her brows at him. "Next."

"I like being on the bottom floor."

"The top floor's quieter." That argument went down in flames too. "Next."

"You know, somehow I think this would be easier if you just listed your concerns first." He said sarcastically.

"Okay. Um." She looked around the place and shrugged "I don't have any. I think it's great."

"You do?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, it's light and airy. It's got good windows but not too many so that the sun bakes you in the afternoon."

"Thank you." He said appreciating that they thought the same way about some things.

"You're close to work, the price seems good, you're taking the spruce, and it's a one-year lease. What's one year?" she reasoned.

Luke was still hesitant, "I don't know. I – "

She cut him off and walked around the apartment "Luke, it's perfect for the two of you." She said earnestly, "and it could be really good for the two of us." She said as she trailed her finger across his jaw.

"Yeah?" he asked, his interest peaked.

"Yeah." She said with a knowing smile. "There are walls, and doors, and the bedrooms are not even placed next door to each other. That could be good, don't you think?" she asked as she raised a brow at him suggestively.

She saw his eyes darken as he stepped toward her purposefully. Instinctively she took a step back, bumping into the kitchen counter. "Luke?" she asked, concerned about his intent approach.

"Yes?" he answered as his hand grasped her waist and pulled her to him.

"What are you doing?" she asked, not really believing that he was thinking what she thought he was thinking.

He captured her lips in a passionate kiss, then proceeded to blaze a trail fire down her neck. One hand slipped up to cup her breast, while the other reached for the hem of her skirt. Lorelai's head fell back in surrender. "Oh, you are bad! Bad, bad Luke." She chanted.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked sincerely, his voice raw with desire.

"God, no." she exhaled and closed her eyes letting the pleasure wash over her. "Bad Luke is soooo good." She moaned.

He chuckled against her skin, saying "I'm glad you think so." He pulled back, his eyes burning into her. She looked at him, dazed with lust. "Just for future reference," he said helpfully, "a Red Sox cap would probably work best." And smiled as he returned to his work.

Lorelai nodded, and licking her dry lips, pulled him closer to her murmuring "Good to know." In his ear.


	21. Meet the Parents

Meet the Parents

Later that evening, after Rory left to meet Dean for pizza, Lorelai was lazily loading some clothes into the washer, distracted by thoughts of how she and Luke 'christened' the apartment that morning. She was jarred from her reverie by a loud pounding on her front door. When she opened the door, Luke stormed, pointed an accusing finger at her and said, "I just spent a hundred thousand dollars and it's all your fault!" before he stomped into the kitchen.

"Oh, good." She replied bewildered. She closed the door and followed him to the kitchen, to find him pacing the room like a caged animal.

"I ran into Taylor at the market, and I found out he owns the building that apartment was in!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"No way." Lorelai said sinking into a chair.

"That," the rant began to pick up speed, "and several others all over town."

"That is so weird." She said wonderingly.

"He's systematically buying up the town." Luke raved, "He's gonna turn it into Taylorville where everyone'll wear cardigans and have the same grass height."

Lorelai tried to calm him asking, "Luke, do you wanna sit down?" to no avail, he had worked up a full head of steam.

"And then he told me he's gonna buy the building next to the diner, turn it into a plate shop for freaks who don't have enough brain power to collect stamps. I lost it." He shouted.

"Uh, I can't picture that." She deadpanned.

"I walked around in a blind rage. I was crazy. I bought one of those Belgian waffles with the ice cream dipped in chocolate…

Lorelai was truly stunned, "You ate that?" she asked.

"No, I didn't eat it!" he yelled.

"Of course not." She nodded her understanding.

He glared down at her saying "I'm upset, not suicidal."

"Right.' She nodded.

"I knew I just had to do something, and I had your voice going round and round in my head." The rant picked up again.

"Yeah, it's kinda like the Small World song." Lorelai acknowledged.

"Take a chance, Luke. Make a move, Luke." He mimicked, "I don't want to sleep alone, Luke. So I bought the building!" he concluded with a flourish.

This time, Lorelai was nearly speechless, "You – you what?" she responded instinctively.

"I went to the bank and got a cashier's check, signed the papers and I bought the building." He said, still pacing and wringing his hands together.

"Wow." Was all she could get out.

Luke pointed to his chest, "I am the building's owner."

"I heard." She replied.

"I own the building." He stated again, an edge of panic in his voice.

Lorelai's mind was reeling, "Okay," she said calmly, "well, don't worry, maybe you can still get out of it. You can go back and tell them you lost your mind."

"Okay." Luke agreed with a nod.

A thought suddenly occurred to her, "Or I bet you can sell it to Taylor."

"Yeah." Luke pondered the possibility.

"So, relax," she said patting his arm, "you can still get out of this."

"Okay." He said as he sank into a chair.

Lorelai thought for a minute and said cautiously, "Unless you don't wanna get out of it."

Luke said, "Oh no, I wanna get out of this." Still processing what he had done. Then his head snapped up, "Uh, why would I not wanna get out of this?" he asked curiously.

Lorelai stood up to gather her thoughts, "Oh, well, owning that building gives you some options."

"Like?" he prompted.

"Uh, like you could expand Luke's if you wanted to." She suggested.

"Yeah."

"Or you could rent it to someone else." She said, warming up.

"Yeah." Luke nodded again.

"Someone else who might drive Taylor crazy." She said teasingly.

Luke turned to her and said seriously, "Maybe I should think about this."

Lorelai smiled and said "Sure, sleep on it".

Luke nodded and sighed, "Sleep on it, right, right".

"You want some tea?" she asked, moving to fill the kettle.

"Tea's good, sure." Luke answered automatically.

After she put the kettle on to heat, Lorelai sat down across from him again and took his hand in hers. "If it makes you feel any better, I've had a weird day, too." She said.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, distractedly.

"Yeah." She smiled at him, "I called my mother this afternoon, and offered your head on a platter."

Luke was drawn out of his thoughts enough to answer "Really? How many pieces of silver did you get for it?"

"Oh, plenty, including the patter." She quipped.

"Good, I won't want to be served up on anything less." He smiled at her. "So you booked it, huh?"

"You told me to!" she reminded him.

"I did." He agreed, "Friday night?" he asked.

"Friday night." She confirmed.

Seeing her troubled expression, Luke leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips. "It will all be fine." He reassured her before he stood up to leave. "I have to get back to the diner, I've been gone all day." He explained.

"Okay." She offered him a fleeting smile, still worrying.

Luke squeezed her shoulder, saying "I'll call you later." And then he left through the kitchen door.

She stared at the door, blew out a nervous breath and muttered, "I sure hope so."

After careful consideration, Luke had decided that he didn't want to answer to any landlord but himself. He stalked into the apartment that night, a man with a mission. He rummaged around in the closet until he located a sledgehammer, swung it up onto his shoulder, bypassed a stunned Jess with his mouth hanging open, and proceeded to knock a large hole in the wall that separated his apartment from the building that he had just purchased. He smirked as his nephew stood, gulping like a fish out of water, handed the sledgehammer to Jess, and said "That's your room. Finish up. We'll hold hands and skip later."

So in the last few days, the Danes/Mariano household had become a construction zone.

Luke gave very specific instructions to Tom, his contractor, about what he wanted done. "I want walls." He stated firmly, "Real walls, not that cardboard crap. And doors. Good solid doors, so I don't want to have to hear that noise that he calls music all of the time!"

Smiling to himself as he pictured Lorelai draped over his bed in what would be his room. He had already ordered a new queen sized mattress for his queen. He was just waiting for the construction to finish up before he could move it in.

Friday night rolled around, and Lorelai and Rory appeared at the diner to pick Luke up for dinner with the Gilmores. He emerged from behind the curtain brushing drywall dust from his tie, his jacket in a plastic dry cleaning bag over his shoulder. "Hey." He greeted them, "This okay?" he asked gesturing to his apparel.

"Perfect." Lorelai replied, drinking in the sight of her handsome man. "Doesn't my fella clean up good?" she asked, nudging Rory in the ribs.

"Ow!" Rory said, scowling at her mother. She turned to Luke and gave him a smile and said "You do look very nice, Luke." In a polite tone.

Luke smiled back at her and said, "Thank you, Rory. You look lovely, as usual."

Rory took the compliment with an embarrassed duck of her head. Lorelai stood with her hands on her hips, sending Luke an affronted stare. "Well? What am I, chopped liver?" she asked. Rory laughed and turned to head for the car.

Luke approached Lorelai with a leering gaze. "No," he said in a low, intimate voice, "You are delectable as always. You, my friend, are filet mignon. Tender, succulent, and possibly dangerous if consumed recklessly."

She beamed at him. "Wow, I' m prime piece of beef. My boyfriend thinks that I rank right up there with red meat! Pretty heady stuff there, mister!" she joked as they walked out of the diner. He chuckled as he guided her to the car, his hand in the small of her back. "Here, big boy, you drive." She said as she handed him the keys to the Jeep. He opened her door for her, checked to be sure that Rory was settled in the back, stowed his jacket inside the backseat behind him, and got behind the wheel.

Lorelai chattered nervously all the way to Hartford. She issued a mile long list of do's and don'ts, she warned him of all of the potential social pitfalls that they may encounter, she issued dire warnings on how to handle her parents. Luke listened with half and ear. He would heed her advice on some matters, but he was determined to face the evening, and the Gilmores on his terms. Rory caught his eye in the rear view mirror, and offered him a wink and a reassuring smile. _At least Rory has some faith in me_, he thought, trying to tamp down his annoyance. He glanced over at Lorelai, and saw her looking at him with a mixture of love and fear. He reached over to pat her knee, and said quietly, "It will be fine, Lorelai. We will be fine. Try to relax." She sagged back into the seat, and drew in a deep cleansing breath, wishing she could be as calm as he was.

Pulling into the drive, and seeing the Gilmore mansion for the first time, loosed the butterflies in Luke's stomach. He flexed his jaw, determined to show no weakness in front of the elder Gilmores. When he pulled to a stop, and stepped from the car, he saw that Rory had removed his suit jacket from it's cover, and she handed it to him through the open door. He nodded his thanks, draped it over his arm and trotted around to open the passenger door. "Quite the gentleman you have there, Mom." Rory joked from the back seat.

"Yeah, he is." Lorelai answered with a sigh of admiration. Luke opened the door to help her out of the car, then flipped the lever on the seat and offered a hand to Rory. Once they were standing by the Jeep, Luke shrugged into his jacket, and fastened the buttons, presenting himself for their approval. Lorelai lovingly smoothed the material over his shoulders and said, "Now listen, I want you to be careful about your consumption of booze…"

Insulted that she would think that he would be so stupid, Luke sneered at her "I'm not going to drink too much."

Shaking her head at his naiveté, Lorelai hooked and arm through his and stepped slowly toward the front door. "No, no, no. You've got it backwards, there, Pablo." She cried, "Ride the pink elephant, baby, 'cause it's your only defense against Richard and Emily Gilmore unless you're packing a Kalashnikov. If we get too lit, Rory can always drive us home."

Rory nodded agreeably as they rang the doorbell. A uniformed maid answered the door which made Luke's eyebrows shoot for his hairline. Lorelai smirked as they entered to find Emily standing in the foyer waiting to greet them. "Well, well, our honored guest. Welcome." She said with false joviality.

"Mom, Luke. Luke, Mom." Lorelai performed her introductions dutifully.

Emily shot her a look and said, "We've met, Lorelai. Several times."

Defensively Lorelai shot back "Well, I was just "re-introducing" you, as per your instructions."

Luke stepped into the fray saying "Good to see you again, Mrs. Gilmore." Offering a nod of his head.

Emily's smile was over-bright as she replied "Ah, no, it's Emily. I insist."

"Nice to see you, Emily." Luke emphasized the use of her given name.

"Come in, come in." she said leading them from the foyer, "Richard is waiting in the Living Room, we'll have cocktails."

When they entered the room, Richard Gilmore folded his newspaper and stood to greet them, sizing Luke up thoroughly. The men greeted each other with handshakes, and Richard offered to take their drink orders.

"Soda's fine, Grandpa." Rory piped up.

"Martini. Gin." Lorelai blurted, "Easy on the garnish, it takes up too much room."

Richard nodded his understanding and turned to Luke. "What can I offer you?" he asked.

Luke smiled and said "A beer would be great if you have it." Lorelai caught the gleam of triumph that entered her mother's eye as Luke spoke.

"Certainly, certainly." Richard replied genially. "Emily?" he asked.

"I'll have a martini also, Richard. I will go check to see if there is any beer in the refrigerator." She said as she left the room, shooting her husband a look.

Richard lifted the lid on the ice bucket and said "Oh. I forgot the ice. I'll be right back." As he took the bucket and scurried off after Emily.

Lorelai groaned and let her head fall against the back of the couch. "Beer?" she asked in disbelief. "Don't you know that beer is code for 'nitwit juice' in their world?" she asked plaintively.

Luke simply shrugged. "They asked what I wanted, I answered." He replied. Leaning closer to her he said "I need you to ease up, okay?" Rory nodded her agreement.

Offended, Lorelai sat up, "I'm trying to defend you! They are in there trying to figure out how to get rid of you right now!" she said indignantly.

"They are not." He insisted, and at her snort of disbelief he lowered his voice urgently, "Even if they are, I'm not that easy to shake. But, if you keep jumping to my defense and sending your mother the death glare, it's going to make me look weak, and I don't want to look weak in front of your parents. So cool it, please?" he asked again.

"Okay," she said doubtfully, "Don't say that I didn't warn you!"

"I consider myself warned." He said settling back into the couch as Richard and Emily appeared again.

The cocktail hour went fairly smoothly. Luke was not oblivious to Emily's veiled barbs, and he was constantly aware of Richard's appraising gaze. They moved to the dining room where Luke was subjected to more of Emily's thinly disguised insults, which Luke ignored studiously while keeping up his end of polite conversation. Richard viewed the scene as if he were an impartial observer. Emily was at her best with the running commentary on Luke's diner and other such establishments, but Luke would never rise to the bait. He answered her questions politely and with a smile, but Richard saw that he was not fooled by her vivacious smile and ingratiating manner. He also saw Lorelai trying desperate to control her temper. She seemed about to jump to Luke's defense a couple of times, but stopped herself when she saw Luke glance at her. Rory seemed to be feeling the poor man's discomfort keenly, and Richard was sorry for his grand daughter's obvious concern. Once dessert was finished, Richard invited Luke to join him in his study for a brandy and a cigar. He saw that Lorelai was about to object when Luke pushed his chair back smoothly, placed his napkin beside his plate and said "I would love to, Richard."

Emily took in her daughter's dismayed expression and Rory's gaping mouth and said "It's okay, girls. I'm sure Richard isn't going to hurt your friend. Let's take our coffee to the Living Room." She said as she pushed her own chair back, grasped her cup and saucer and left the room.

"What's he doing to him?" Rory whispered desperately.

Lorelai picked up her coffee and wrapped her arm around her daughter as they walked toward the living room. "Don't worry, hon." She said with heavy irony, "I'm sure Grandpa is simply making Luke and offer he can't refuse." As she cast a worried glance at the closed of the study.

_tbc_


	22. A Word From The Don Is All It Takes

Chapter 22

Luke followed Richard into the study, pausing to look around in admiration. Not that he would want a room like this, but he could understand the comfort that the sheer masculinity of this room could provide as a refuge from the rest of the house which was clearly Emily's domain. The walls were lined with beautifully bound books, some obviously very old and expensive. Luke understood that this was Richard's haven. Richard gestured for Luke to take a seat in one of the club chairs covered in buttery, soft leather.

Richard turned from the sideboard with two snifters of cognac, and handed one to Luke before settling himself in the chair directly across from him. He reached for the humidor on his desk and offered Luke a cigar, which he refused, before selecting one for himself and lighting it with relish. Luke waited patiently for the older man to speak his mind. He had been mentally preparing himself for this evening all week. He was proud of the patience and restraint that he had exhibited throughout dinner. He had schooled himself to remain impassive to any perceived slights and was determined to be nothing but forthright with Lorelai's parents. He raised his eyes to see Richard looking at the amber liquid he swirled as if he were searching for the right words. Finally, the older man spoke softly, measuring each word carefully, "My daughter and grand daughter seem to care for you a great deal, Luke."

"Yes sir." Luke acknowledged with a nod.

"I dare say that, based upon my observations this evening, that Lorelai is in love with you." Richard mused.

"Yes sir." Luke repeated, as he looked at Richard squarely in the eye, "and I am in love with her." He stated plainly.

Richard nodded, appreciating the younger man's direct nature and disdain for flowery declarations. "Rory has a very special place in my heart." Her grandfather admitted freely.

"Understandably so." Luke answered, "She is a wonderful young girl."

"Yes. Yes, she is." Richard said softly, "So you will understand my concern, shall we say, about the people who play an important role in their lives, correct?"

"Yes sir." Luke agreed, "I share that same concern."

Richard set his glass aside, and steepled his fingers below his chin. He watched Luke carefully for a moment, as if taking measure of the man. Finally, he lowered his hands and met Luke's questioning gaze. "I have had you investigated." He said simply, offering no apology or explanation.

Luke carefully kept his face blank as the older man made his pronouncement, unwilling to show any shock or surprise. He smiled slightly over his glass, "What did you find?" he asked mildly before taking a sip from the snifter. He welcomed the mild burn of the alcohol as it trickled down his throat.

Richard raised an eyebrow, impressed by how Luke had kept his cool. "Well, let's see, you were born and raised in Star's Hollow. You have one sister, Elizabeth, correct?" Luke nodded his response. "Your parents both passed away when you were quite young. I'm sorry for that." Richard said politely, and continued when Luke bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment. "They left you a tidy sum of money in savings and insurance, which you have invested wisely and conservatively. They also left you some real estate in the form of their home and the building which housed your father's business and now yours. How am I doing so far?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Very well." Luke offered him a tight smile, "What else?"

Richard leaned back, and picked up his snifter again. "Well, your parents were well liked and respected in their community. Your sister left home young, and had a son who would be about Rory's age now." Seeing Luke nod along with him, he recited some more facts. "Despite what some may describe as a taciturn personality, you are also held in high esteem in your community. Your business seems to be healthy and well run. You have recently taken on the care of your nephew, who apparently has run into some trouble, but you are working to get him on the right path. You live simply, drive an older vehicle although you can certainly afford a newer one, you do not spend money extravagantly, but you are known to be generous both personally and financially to those in need." Richard finished his recitation, and sat back to take a swallow of his drink. He waited patiently for Luke to comment on his findings.

"Your people missed one thing." Luke informed him in the interest of full disclosure, "Earlier this week, spurred on by your daughter, I impulsively purchased the building next to my diner. At first I had buyer's remorse, I guess you would say, but after I talked it over with Lorelai, I decided that it was a good investment. You may want to have your guy take a look at that and let me know how I did on the deal." Luke smirked at him.

Richard laughed, appreciating Luke's candor. He couldn't help warming to the man, despite Emily's misgivings. Luke stood up to walk around the room as he gathered his thoughts. He had expected something like this, knowing what he did about Lorelai's parents, but he was still shocked when it actually happened. It was like something out of a movie. Finally, Luke had had enough games for one evening. He set his glass down on a table and turned to Lorelai's father. Squaring his shoulders he said "Richard, I intend to marry your daughter, if she will have me."

Richard genuinely smiled at him for the first time, "Well, of course you do, son, and of course she'll have you." He laughed as if this had been a foregone conclusion. "I'm sorry," he apologized when he saw the perplexed look on Luke's face, "I guess I just thought that you realized that I knew that the moment we shook hands tonight. I must have had that same look of grim determination when I went to meet with Emily's father." He smiled again and Luke began to relax.

He sank back down into his chair and looked at Richard questioningly, "So, this whole investigation thing was just to see if I would be able to provide for her and Rory?"

"Well, yes." Richard gestured as if he thought that it should have been obvious.

"Okay." Luke said drawing the word out a little.

"If you don't mind my asking, do you have a timeline in mind for this marriage?" Richard asked.

"Well, I have been thinking about that a lot. We have only been dating for a few months, so I thought that I would propose something later this spring, and then we could marry after Rory and Jess graduate next year." He paused for a moment, pursing his lips in thought, "They have developed a kind of a friendship, but I don't want to force them into living in the same house full time, you know? It just seems a little too much like a television sit-com."

Richard nodded appreciatively so Luke continued, "Mr. Gilmore, I mean Richard, I know that you and Emily have not had the smoothest relationship with Lorelai in the past. I also know, almost as well as you do, how stubborn she can be when she digs her heels in on something." At this, Richard barked a short laugh, and waved for Luke to continue. "I want you to know, that I will not propose marriage to Lorelai if either you or Emily presents a serious objection to the marriage. Now, by serious objection, I do not mean your general disapproval of our lifestyle. We are well aware that it is very different from your own, and frankly, we like it that way. But if you give me sound reason why we should not spend our lives together, I will respect your opinion. Family is important to me, and to Lorelai, although she won't admit to it. I have little enough family of my own left to be at odds with my wife's family." He said sincerely.

Richard took a moment to digest Luke's words. He approached his next query carefully. "Luke, I am sure that you are aware that Lorelai and Rory will both become very wealthy women in their own right one day. Please believe me when I tell you that what I have to ask is not a reflection on you personally or your feelings for them." Luke nodded, anticipating what was to come next. Richard sat at the edge of his chair and gave Luke a hard look, watching for any flicker of resistance, "Would you be willing to sign a prenuptial agreement which would protect their interests, as well as yours, in the event that the marriage does not work out?"

Luke returned Richard's gaze steadily and replied, "Of course." With a careless shrug.

Richard sat back, relieved, murmuring a simple "Thank you." As he continued to study Luke intently. Finally, he stood and extended his hand to Luke saying "Lorelai is a very lucky woman, Luke. I trust that you will take good care of our girls."

Luke smiled with relief as he took Richard's hand, "Yes sir. I will."

"Good! Now, that's settled." He rose to fetch the decanter from the sideboard saying "Let's have another quick drink, and we will discuss how to handle Emily…"

While the men were ensconced in the study, the women sat in uneasy silence in the living room. Lorelai and Rory sat on the edge of the sofa, and kept sneaking nervous glances at the closed door of the study. Emily was growing impatient with their obvious discomfort. "Really, Lorelai, it isn't as if your father has a guillotine in there." She said in a caustic tone.

Lorelai shot her mother a withering glance, and sank back into the cushions to sulk. Rory decided to take this moment to try to sway her grandmother. "Grandma, I am sure you will come to love Luke as much as we do, once you get to know him."

"Love him?" Emily pounced on the word, "Do you love him?" she asked with a disdainful look.

Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest and refused to give her mother an answer. Rory shrunk back into the cushions beside her mother.

Emily tried for a slightly lighter tone, "Oh I am sure he is very handy to have around. He looks like the kind of man you can count on to fix almost anything."

Lorelai aimed a dirty look in Emily's direction, and Rory simply nodded in absently.

Emily pursed her lips, and tried a different tactic, "I supposed there is a certain raw magnetism that men like Luke have. They seem so protective and strong. I can see how a woman may feel safe with a man like him." Getting no response from either of the girls, Emily was growing frustrated, and began to lose her composure. "But, really Lorelai, Luke isn't the kind of man for a woman of your brains and breeding. I mean, he is fine to have as an acquaintance…"

Emily trailed off as Lorelai slammed her palm on the sofa and screaming a frustrated "Gah!" stood up, and stalked out of the room. A moment later, they heard the bathroom door slam shut.

Rory sat for a moment, appraising her grandmother coolly. Finally, she leaned forward to speak to her grandmother directly. "Grandma, you know I love and respect you, but I will not allow you to talk about Luke that way." The cold steel in her voice stunning Emily into uncharacteristic silence. "He is a good man. He loves me, and he adores Mom. He has cared for us as no other person ever has. He expects nothing in return. Mom loves him. I have never seen her happier in my whole life." She stared at Emily with those bright blue eyes shining with determination. "I ask you to think carefully about giving Luke a chance before you rush to judgment. I beg you not to fight Mom on this, because I promise it will be a battle you will not win. I know you won't, because not only would you be fighting Mom and Luke, but you would be fighting me, too." She finished quietly.

Emily sat back and digested the words her beloved grand daughter had spoken to her. _Does this man really have the power to take them both from me?_ She wondered. Just then, Lorelai came back into the room, pausing when she saw the two of them obviously in deep thought. Emily looked up at her daughter, and saw the same determination that she had seen in Rory's eyes. She lowered hers to stare at her hands clasped in her lap. Finally, she straightened her spine, and spoke clearly and concisely, "Lorelai, Rory, I owe you both an apology. I have been rude to your guest. That was very wrong of me. I will do my best to make amends with Luke. Please know that he is welcome in our home anytime. If you will excuse me, I will go ask the maid to make us some more coffee." She stood to leave the room, her head held high, "Would either of you like another slice of cake?" she added as an afterthought.

"Oh! I would!" Rory perked up at the thought of extra dessert. Lorelai stood rooted to the spot, unable to comprehend what had just happened here. Rory answered for her, "I am sure that Mom would like a piece of cake, too, wouldn't you, Mom?"

She looked at Rory in a daze and mumbled "Yes, please." as Emily left the room. Lorelai narrowed her eyes at Rory who sat on the couch, the very portrait of feminine innocence.

"What did you do to her?" she asked in awe.

"Nothing." Rory shrugged modestly, "I just told her how I felt."

Lorelai flopped down next to her daughter shaking her head. "You are one amazing kid!" she said with wonder. "The power you must wield!"

"Yeah, I'm cool." Rory agreed with her mother.

As they giggled, the study door suddenly opened, and the men emerged. Richard had one hand clamped companionably on Luke's shoulder, the other gesturing wildly with his cigar as he finished telling some story. The men laughed that manly 'you're not really funny, but I have to laugh anyway' laugh, and smiled at the girls as they entered the room. Lorelai could see that Luke's cheeks were slightly flushed, but he looked no worse for wear than when he entered the study.

Emily appeared in the doorway with her hapless maid carrying a tray with a fresh pot of coffee and slices of cake on it. "Oh. There you are." she said with a smile, "We were wondering if you had decided to start your own club in there." Luke's eyes scanned all three Gilmore women warily. He could see that there had been a skirmish, but there appeared to be no bloodshed. Emily looked up and gestured to the seat next to Lorelai on the couch. "I know that you don't drink coffee, Luke, but I do have some tea. Would you like chamomile or peppermint?" she asked him graciously.

Luke glanced at Lorelai and Rory, wondering what had happened while they were gone. "Peppermint tea would be nice, thank you Emily." He said politely.

They chatted easily while the girls ate their second dessert, and when they finished, Luke rose to bid his hosts goodnight. "Thank you for dinner, the food was delicious." He said sincerely.

Richard slapped him on the back jovially and said "You are welcome. Perhaps, you would like to come again next Friday. I would love to show you the car I have been working on."

Luke nodded, thankful for Richard's support. "I would like that." He answered simply.

"Oh, yes. Richard spends hours tinkering with that old thing. I'm sure that he would love to have someone to talk to about it. I am afraid that his car talk is all Greek to me." Emily said, smiling up at her husband.

Luke nodded and placed his hand on Lorelai's back to usher her through the door. Knowing that Richard and Emily were watching as they left, the trio remained silent as Luke helped them into the Jeep. He strode to the diver's side and held up his hand in a final farewell as he slid behind the wheel. He started the car, and quickly pulled out of the driveway. Once they were about a block down the street, he pulled over. He turned to Lorelai and said "I need you to drive home. Your dad was pretty free with the cognac in there." He muttered as he opened the door to get out.

Lorelai hopped out to meet him behind the Jeep. She stopped him "Are you drunk?" she asked, amused.

"Nah." Luke responded, "I just don't think that I need to be driving right now."

Looking at him carefully, Lorelai nodded and said "Okay." After they had both settled back in the car, Lorelai glanced at Rory in the rear view mirror and saw that her eyes were as round as saucers. She couldn't take it anymore, she turned in her seat and said "What the hell just happened in there?" her eyes darting between the two of them.

Luke looked back at Rory, who quickly dropped her eyes to her lap. He sighed and said "Just drive, I'll tell you on the way."

Once Richard and Emily saw the taillights of the car disappear, Emily whirled to confront him "What the hell just happened in there?" she demanded, "Come over and see my car, Luke." She mimicked his invitation derisively.

Calmly, Richard took Emily's arm to lead her back into the house. Once the door was closed behind them, he took her into the living room and led her to her chair. He gathered his thoughts for a moment before he spoke. "Emily, I believe we have just met our future son-in-law." As she began to rise from the chair, her mouth open to protest, Richard placed a calming hand on her shoulder saying, "Tread carefully, my dear, before you fly off of the handle, let me tell you what I know. That young man," he said pointing vaguely toward the front door, "is a force to be reckoned with in their lives. If you alienate him, you may alienate the girls as well." He sat close to her and took her hand in his. "We have to be practical. Lorelai has always rebelled against what we want for her. If you make Luke a target, she will defend him until the day she dies."

Emily nodded her acquiescence, so Richard continued. "Despite his outward appearance, he is extremely bright. We would do well not to underestimate him. He showed no fear, no sign of weakness or anger. He was very much in control of himself. I dare say, he was very impressive." Emily looked at the ceiling, sulking. "Most importantly, I believe he loves Lorelai and Rory fiercely. And if what I observed here tonight is correct, they love him too." Emily cast her gaze to her hands clasped in her lap remembering Rory's words, she simply nodded in agreement.

Confident that he was getting through to her, Richard stood and pressed a kiss to her hair. "Lorelai and Rory could do much worse, Emily. I say we spend some time getting to know Luke, without prejudice. He may surprise even you. He has very strong feelings about family. He might even become a sort of an ally eventually, if we play our cards right."

Emily snorted at his last assertion, but when she looked up at Richard, she saw that he was completely serious. Drawing a deep breath, she said "Very well. We will get to know Luke." She said with difficulty.

Richard smiled as he offered his hand to help her from her chair. When she stood, he pressed a kiss to her temple, and said "Good girl." As he took her hand to pull her from the room.

Emily scowled at him behind his back as he led her upstairs.

Lorelai was carefully driving toward Stars Hollow. She could not stop glancing at Luke as she turned onto the highway. When she couldn't take it anymore she asked "So are you going to tell me, or are the two of you blood brothers now?"

Luke laughed and rubbed a hand absently over his mouth as he stared blindly at the passing scenery. "Your father is a very interesting guy, and not just for his ability to hold his liquor." He said with a wry smile. "Man, I thought that you were kidding about the booze!" he said running his hand tiredly over his face, "Beer before dinner, wine with the meal, and cognac afterwards. It was all I could do to keep from weaving my way out of the door!" Luke began to snicker at himself, which cause Lorelai and Rory to giggle too.

"Yeah, the Barrymore's have nothing on the Gilmore's ability to throw back the hooch." Lorelai said shaking her head in wonder. She persisted, "So, are you going to tell me what you talked about there in your he-man club?" she asked again.

Luke downplayed the conversation, knowing that Lorelai would go ballistic if she knew that Richard had checked up on him. "Well, you know, we talked about the diner, and investments." He said vaguely, "Oh. I told him about the building that I bought. He seemed to think that it was a good idea. And, we talked about you two, and how we both wanted what's best for you. It went well, I think." He concluded confidently.

"So, good talk?" she asked leadingly.

"Yeah. Good talk." He said as he reached over to pat her knee reassuringly, and returned his gaze to the window. They rode in silence for a few minutes before he snorted and said, "Man, your mom…" shaking his head "She's a piece of work, isn't she?" Lorelai and Rory both laughed. The liquor seemed to loosen his tongue, "The two of them together are really very intimidating, don't you think?" he mused, "But they are a team. Partners, I guess. I admire that." He said sincerely.

"Yeah," Lorelai glanced at him uneasily, "they are a team." She concurred.

He turned in his seat to look at them asking "So, what happened while we were in there? When I went in, I could have sworn that she would gladly stab me with her dessert fork, but when I came out, she was so, I don't know, is 'pleasant' the right word to use?"

Lorelai caught Rory's eye in the mirror and said "I don't know what happened, maybe Don Gilmore in the backseat, there, can tell us what kind of peace she brokered while I was in the restroom?"

Rory blushed, and tried to brush it off, "I just told her how I felt, that's all, no big deal."

"No big deal?" Lorelai asked incredulously, "That had to be Mideast peace talks level of negotiation in there!"

"No." Rory answered quietly, "I just told her that we love Luke and Luke loves us. I guess, she must have just needed someone to clarify the situation for her." She concluded softly while toying with her bracelet.

"Mmm hmm." Lorelai answered suspiciously. "Well, kid, I have to say, you do good work. If I am ever being held hostage somewhere, I want them to send you in."

"Me too." Luke said, smiled gratefully and reached back to bump Rory's knee with his knuckles. "Me too." He repeated as they sped toward home, he was exhausted, but strangely exhilarated.


	23. A Fresh Kind of Hell

**A/N: Obviously, this is taken mostly from the episodes. I thought that this was too important of a time in their relationship to skim over. Please bear with me!**

A Fresh Kind of Hell

The weeks seemed to speed by as they settled into new routine. Luke attended dinner at the Gilmore's house the following Friday, enjoying his time spent in the garage with Richard. Lorelai got roped into going to a spa with Emily for the weekend, and when it was over, she seemed to have softened toward her mother a little. Rory was still dating Dean, but she and Jess became good friends. She was shocked when she introduced him to Paris and saw that they seemed to hit it off.

Lorelai and Rory sprang into action when Luke's Uncle Louie passed away, and he needed help making all of the arrangements. Lorelai shamed the townies into paying their respects to Luke and his father, if not Louie, by attending the service. She was touched to see that her parents had even sent a very tasteful floral arrangement. After helping Rory with a class project, Richard decided that he wanted re-enter the business world, this time starting a firm of his own. And, Sookie and Jackson's wedding plans were back on track after Lorelai snatched her friend from her mother's clutches. It was all going well, yet Lorelai could not seem to shake the feeling of impending doom that dampened her spirits.

It was a bright spring Saturday when Lorelai was surprised to find Luke at her door in the middle of the day. "Well, hello handsome!" she grinned, pulling him through the door with a fistful of flannel, and kissing him soundly. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

Luke looked down awkwardly and said "Uh, I made some brownies, I thought you might like some." He held a bakery box out to her.

"Oh, gee, since I just ate half a bag of marshmallows, six Pop Tarts, four bagel dogs and a really stale Cheese Nip – yup, it's brownie time, thanks." She laughed when she saw the grimace on his face. She led him into the kitchen, placed the box on the counter, and grinned at him flirtatiously, "Hey, here's a question for you." She said toying with a button on his shirt.

"Yeah?" he asked with a nervous glance at Rory's door.

"Well, you probably have a diner full of people who would love these brownies – plus, I bet they'd pay you for 'em." She asked leadingly.

Luke ducked his head and smiled, "Well, I accidentally dropped triple the amount of cocoa powder in the batter so I either had to dump the batch or find someone with some sort of superhuman chocolate tolerance – only one name came to mind."

She kissed him again and said, "God, I love being special." She drew back and saw a worried look in his eyes, "What?" she asked concerned.

Luke was embarrassed that she could read him so easily. He scuffed his feet a bit and said "Nothing. I just. . .hey, uh, is Rory here by any chance?"

"Yeah, she's in her room." Lorelai answered, curiosity dripping from her voice.

"Can I talk to her for a sec?"

Intrigued, Lorelai gestured toward the door, "Sure, go right ahead."

"Hey, thanks." Luke knocked on the door calling "Rory, it's Luke. Can I come in for a minute?"

Rory opened the door and said "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much." He replied, "Can I . . ." he gestured toward her room. 

Stepping back from the doorway, she stood aside, "Uh, yeah, come on in." she said, shooting her mother a questioning look which Lorelai answered with a shrug.

Luke looked around the room uncomfortably. "So I see you're studying." He stated the obvious.

"Yup." Rory answered, sitting down in her desk chair again.

"That's good. Studying is very, very good." He said wringing his hands nervously, "What you're doing right there with the books, very good."

"Thank you." Rory answered, trying not to laugh.

Luke sat down on the end of her bed, cleared his throat nervously and got straight to the point. "Okay, look, I wanted to ask you a favor. Oh. Uh. I was wondering if you could tutor Jess."

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

" I saw the principal today. He's not doing too well in school. The principal said he's not gonna let him move on unless something changes. I was wondering if you could help." He answered opening his hands helplessly.

Rory was confused, "That doesn't make any sense, he's smart enough to pass any subject." She said.

Luke laughed and said "I don't think it's his lack of smarts, more like his lack of proximity to the actual classes that's the problem."

"Ah." Rory finally understood. 

"Yes." Luke answered with a nod.

Warming to the subject Rory got down to business, "Okay, what subject does he need help in?"

" I'd say all of them, probably." Answered shortly.

"Huh." Rory was stupefied..

"Look, I don't expect you to work miracles and it doesn't have to be a full time everyday thing. If you could just get him through a couple of his next tests, maybe make the school see that he can do it, that would probably help out a lot." He said, gesturing expansively with his hands.

"Sure." Rory answered easily.

Luke smiled in relief and admiration for her. "Great, tonight?" he asked.

"Tonight." She confirmed.

"I really appreciate this." He said sincerely as she nodded. "Ah, okay, you should get back to your studying, otherwise you're completely useless to me." He smirked as he left the room. He saw Lorelai leaning against the counter, placing a brownie on a napkin. "Okay," he said rubbing his hand together, "so I'll see you guys at dinner probably." And walked toward the door.

Lorelai trotted after him calling "Wait, hold on – what was that all about?"

"Oh, Rory's gonna tutor Jess." He answered casually.

"She is?" Lorelai blinked at him.

"Yeah, just for a little while," he assured her "help get him on the right track."

"Wow." She didn't know what to say, her mind was racing.

"Okay, I should be getting back." He leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Enjoy the brownies, I'll see if I can screw up a cake for you later on."

"Sounds great." She said automatically as he stepped through the door. After a moment, she followed him into the front yard calling "Hey Luke, hang on just a sec."

"Yeah?" he asked inquisitively.

"Um, listen, about Rory doing this tutoring thing." She didn't really know where to begin, or how to voice her misgivings.

Luke grasped her hand in his and said earnestly, "I really appreciate it, by the way."

"I know you do. I just. . ." she paused to find the right words, "Rory's so sweet and she would never say no to anyone 'cause she loves to help, especially not you, 'cause she loves you, but I'm not sure if it's the best idea."

"Why not?" he asked, feeling a little put out.

"Well, she's got her own studies to worry about." Lorelai reasoned.

"I know, and I promise this is not gonna take up all her time." He touched her arm, reassuring her, "It's just for a little while."

"Okay, but - ." she was still hesitant about Rory spending time with Jess.

Luke went on, oblivious, "Plus, Rory's pretty serious about school. I don't think she'd say she had the time if she didn't."

Lorelai saw an opportunity to spin this away from Rory, "I know, Rory is a great student, but she's just a kid. Don't you need like a professional tutor to help with Jess? You know, somebody with a degree and a pipe and one of those coats with the elbow patches on it?"

Luke shook his head, knowing how his nephew would react, "I need someone Jess is gonna listen to, someone he's gonna. . .I don't know, look up to. That sure isn't me and it sure isn't some tutor. He likes Rory and Rory's on the path that I'd like to see Jess on – school and college. He needs to see somebody he respects doing what he should be doing and Rory's the only person I can think of who fits that description."

"Yeah, but you don't know for sure that he'll listen to Rory." She said doubtfully.

"No, but they are friends. I gotta do something, don't I? I mean, what would you do if you were me?"

"Nuh." Lorelai granted her acknowledgement, "Okay, just make sure it's not too much time, okay?"

"I will." He smiled at her.

"Okay." She nodded, still troubled by this sense of unease.

"Enjoy the brownie." He called over his shoulder with a wave.

Later that evening, Lorelai was shuffling through takeout menus while Rory was supposed to be tutoring Jess at the diner. The phone rang, and Lorelai answered distractedly. "Hello?"

"Mom?" Rory said hesitantly.

Excited to hear her daughter's voice Lorelai babbled "Oh, Rory, great. Tell me, was it the China Ball, the China Doll, or the China Wall that had the really good shrimp balls?"

"I think it was the China Doll." Rory tried to remember.

"Okay, these can go." Lorelai said tossing some menus into a pile. "You'll be so proud of me, I'm organizing the takeout drawer. I'm weeding out all the dogs and I'm putting happy face stickers on the dishes that have been huge successes to make our ordering more efficient. Where are you?"

"I need you to be calm." Rory said softly.

Lorelai's antennae went up, "Calm about what?"

"Calm about what I have to tell you." Rory replied reasonably.

"What – where are you?" panic began to seep into Lorelai's voice.

Rory tried to reassure her mother, "I'm all right."

Lorelai felt the full on panic coming on "Well, of course you're all right – why wouldn't you be all right?"

"Because. . ." she hesitated, "I got in an accident."

"What? What accident? What do you mean you got in an accident? At the diner?" she asked frantically.

"No," Rory explained, "Jess and I went for ice cream and we were just driving and it was dark and this dog or cat or possum, I don't know – it was small and furry, and it ran out into the middle of the road and Jess swerved and…"

Lorelai fixated on one small detail, "Jess swerved?"

"Yes. 

"Jess was driving?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes."

"Jess was driving your car and you got in an accident?" Lorelai tried again, just to be sure that she was clear.

"But I'm fine and he's fine and the furry thing is fine" Rory said in a rush, "The car's a little messed up, but there's nothing for you to be worried about."

"Where are you?" Lorelai asked as she searched for her purse and keys.

"I'm in the hospital." Rory admitted reluctantly.

Lorelai hung up the phone and bolted for the door. A short while later, she was badgering the doctor as he wrapped Rory's fractured wrist. He agreed to take more x-rays just to be sure that they had not missed anything. She joked with Rory as they waited for her to be taken for the x-rays. The doctor told her that it would be an hour or so, and that she should go to get some coffee or something. As they wheeled her daughter away, Lorelai knew just where to go to get that coffee. She stormed down the corridor with blood in her eye.

"Luke! Luke!" Lorelai yelled as she pounded on the diner door.

Luke opened the door and Lorelai rushed past him into the diner. "Hey, I was…" he started , but she cut him off.

"Where is he?" Lorelai demanded.

"Who?" Luke asked, confused by her obvious anger.

"Jess!" she yelled, "Where's Jess, Luke?"

"I don't know, I just got back from Hartford." He explained. "What's going on? I got here and they weren't here." He asked.

"Jess!" she screamed as she started for the stairs.

"Hey, talk to me!" he called as he ran after her.

"Jess, answer me right now!" she screamed.

"What's wrong, what happened?" he tried again as they reached the landing.

"There was an accident" she said shortly as she opened the door and scanned the apartment for Jess.

"What - what accident?" Luke was stunned and scared. 

"Jess!" Lorelai yelled for him again.

"What accident?" Luke asked, more insistently.

"Jess was driving Rory's car and he crashed it." She said bluntly.

"What, when?" he asked, trying to process the information.

Lorelai spun on him her eyes blazing with anger, "What do you mean, when? Tonight, tonight – he crashed it tonight! Jess, dammit!" She stormed out of the empty apartment and flew down the stairs, Luke hot on her trail.

"What happened? Is anyone hurt?" he asked concerned as they reached the diner door, "Lorelai!" he yelled when she wouldn't stop. He reached out and grabbed her arm to hold her still, "Hey, I'm talking to you here."

Lorelai's eyes scanned the street manically, "Where would he be? Where would he go?"

"I asked you if anyone was hurt?" Luke said more forcefully, shaking her arm gently to get her attention.

"Uh, was anyone hurt?" she paused and looked at him as if he was crazy, she continued in a nasty tone "Well, let's see. Uh, Rory's in the emergency room now with a fractured wrist, so yeah, I'd say someone was hurt."

Luke was frightened, "Rory fractured her wrist?" he asked with genuine concern.

Angry tears filled her eyes when she answered him "Yes, she has to wear a cast for two weeks, she's getting x-rays and tests."

"What about Jess?" Luke asked frantically, "Is he hurt?"

"No, Luke, Jess did the hurting." She spat the words at him. "That little punk nephew of yours almost killed my kid tonight." She said in a voice dripping with venom.

Luke stepped away from her fury and tried to remain calm "Look," he said, "I'm sure it was an accident. Accidents happen."

"Not with my kid in the car, they don't" she asserted..

"Okay, you just need to calm down." He said, his own anger rising.

"Why did you do this?" Lorelai asked plaintively.

Luke was perplexed, "What are you talking about? Why did I do what?"

"Why did you bring him here?" she demanded.

"What?" he demanded right back.

"If you hadn't brought him here, none of this would've happened." She said near hysteria.

"This is my fault?" Luke tried to clarify pointing an indignant finger to his chest.

"Yes, it is your fault!" she accused. "You told him to come, you let him stay. Everybody hated him, everybody knew he was trouble but you wouldn't listen and you wouldn't send him home and now my daughter is in the hospital!"

Luke stormed out of the diner, this time Lorelai was at his heels, sniping at him as he looked around the square hoping to see Jess.

"You kept pushing them together." Her accusations continued, "You asked her to help him study, you knew she'd never say no. I told you it made me nervous, I told you I didn't like it and I should've stopped it right there. But you thought Rory would be good for Jess, never mind what he'd be for her. That wasn't important at all, was it?" she attacked.

Luke spun around to face her. "Of course it was important." He insisted.

"Why didn't you put a stop to it at the first sign of trouble? Why didn't you make him leave?" she wailed.

"He's my nephew." Luke said, his jaw flexing with tension, "I had an obligation to take him in, I had an obligation to care for him." He yelled, his control finally snapping.

"You had an obligation to this town and to me and to Rory." She shouted. "Where are you going?" she screamed at him.

"I have to find out where Jess is." He yelled back.

"Well, I'll tell you where he's not" she said in a snide tone, "he's not in the emergency room having him arm plastered up!"

That stopped Luke in his tracks. He glared at her and said "Hey, I am sorry about Rory. You know I care more about her than I do myself, but at least you know where Rory is and at least you know that she's okay." His panic rising with the knowledge that no one knew where Jess was. "Now, I have to find Jess and I have to make sure that he's okay, and if that cuts into your screaming time, well that's just too damn bad!" he shouted at her. 

"Go to hell!" she unleashed her fury on him.

"Right back at ya!" he gave it back as good as he got.


	24. Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

Luke pulled to a stop beside his dad's old fishing cabin at 9:30 the next morning. He cut the motor, and stared with unseeing eyes out at the Luke. _What the hell happened? _He thought, playing it all over in his mind. _How could it all fall apart so quickly? One moment, we're happy, we're in love, and the next moment we're screaming in the street and telling each other off. I can't believe it's over. Is it over? It feels over. _Luke pressed his forehead against his hands resting on the top of the steering wheel, trying to blink back the moisture filling his eyes and swallow the baseball that had lodged in his throat.

Last night, after walking away from Lorelai, Luke found Jess sitting on the footbridge, smoking a cigarette. Luke sat down next to him, and Jess said "I made sure that she was okay." In a voice hoarse with unshed tears.

"I know you did." Luke answered quietly. They sat wrapped in their own thoughts for a while, then they rose without discussion and Luke walked Jess back to the apartment. Once, they were inside, Luke stopped to take a good look at his nephew. The boy was obviously shaken, but otherwise unharmed. He sighed with relief and said, "It may be better for us both if we both got out of town for a while, let things cool down."

Jess looked at his uncle, and seeing the pain etched into his face, knew that he had cause more than the wreck of Rory's car. He nodded silently, and turned to toss some clothing into a duffle bag. Luke did the same thing, and gathered his fishing equipment. Finally, Luke sat on the edge of the bad and said "I think you should go to New York, visit your mom for a while." in a sad voice.

Jess understood what was happening, and rose to grab another bag to fill with books and CDs. They rose early the next morning after tossing and turning all night. Luke loaded Jess' belongings and his fishing gear into the back of the truck at first light, taped a piece of cardboard with the words 'gone fishing' scrawled on it to the door of the diner, and drove to the bus depot in Hartford. When he gave Jess a manly hug goodbye, he felt a shudder run through the younger boy. "I'll call you." He promised. And with a nod, Jess boarded the bus. Luke watched until it pulled away, knowing that what he had just done was wrong.

Still slumped in his truck, he sat up, and opened the door with a little more force than necessary. He grabbed the grocery bag of supplies that he had picked up in a nearby town, and his duffle bag and went into the cabin. Moving on autopilot, Luke stowed his bag in the bedroom, and came out to put the groceries away. He put the eggs and twelve pack of beer in the fridge, but opened the bread and sliced turkey to make a sandwich. He grabbed a small cooler that he kept by the door, pulled an ice pack from the freezer and tossed it in. He loaded some beer and the sandwich into the cooler, and walked out to gather his rod and tackle box. He didn't have the patience to take the fishing boat out of the shed and launch it, so he walked to the end of the dock and sat down with his cooler, preparing to cast a line. Once his hook was in the water, Luke opened the cooler and pulled out a bottle of beer. _Breakfast of champions_, he thought as he took a long pull from the bottle, trying to dull the pain in his gut.

After they returned from the hospital, Lorelai tucked Rory into bed and sat in a chair, watching her baby sleep. Her face was calm, but her mind was reeling. _What have I_ _done?_ She asked herself. _How could I have said those things to him? Luke loves Rory, he would never want her to be hurt._ Lorelai was wracked with guilt and worry. She glanced at the clock, and was shocked to see that it was one in the morning. _We'll go see him in the morning. I can apologize. I can plead temporary insanity. Please God, let Jess be okay, too_ she prayed. _How could I have been that selfish? I am a horrible person. Luke may never speak to me again. What do I do? What if he tells me that it's over? How will I ever tell Rory what I did to him? _Lorelai was genuinelyashamed of her behavior. She spent a sleepless night trying to figure out how she could make it all up to him.

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory walked to the diner, chatting about the cast, but they were stopped by a crowd of people blocking the diner door. As they moved closer, they saw the 'gone fishing' sign taped to the door. "It's closed? Luke's is never closed." Rory asked, trying to figure out what was happening, "Where did he go? Is Jess with him? What happened?" Lorelai didn't have any of the answers Rory needed, so she pulled her daughter away from the crowd so they could talk privately. "What happened between you and Luke? Was it bad? I mean, I'm sure it was bad, but how bad is bad?

"It was nothing." Lorelai tried to brush it off lightly.

"Really?" Rory asked doubtfully.

She took a deep breath and tried to answer her daughter somewhat honestly "Look, I was upset, he was upset, we had a thing. It's over, we're fine."

"A thing?" Rory asked.

"A tiny thing." Lorelai answered squeezing the space between her thumb and forefinger.

"A tiny thing?" Rory asked unsure if her mom was telling her the truth.

"A thinglet, if you will." Lorelai assured her.

"You and Luke don't have thinglets very often." Rory said suspiciously.

"Oh no, Rory, everybody has thinglets," Lorelai corrected knowingly, "it's part of being a grown up."

"Well, what did he say? What did you say?" Rory persisted.

"Rory, please." Lorelai pled with her, "Can we just drop it for now? We'll work it out. It's not for you to worry about. We will all be fine." Rory shot her mother another glance, but let the subject drop.

That night, they went to the movie in the square. They had just taken their seats, when they overheard Miss Patty and Babette gossiping. "No!" Patty exclaimed.

"I swear to God!" Babette answered in a loud whisper.

"When?" Patty asked, trying to keep up.

"Early this morning, before dawn, Luke drove him straight to the bus station, stuck the kid on a bus, and sent him home to his mom." Babette replied with relish.

"I can't believe Luke would send him off like that." Patty said, her voice filled with shock. 

"Well, I heard the kid wanted to go." Babette shrugged, "I don't know. All I know is that Jess is gone."

"Well, well, well. What will we do for entertainment around here?" Patty asked in a snide tone.

"Beats the hell outta me." Babette groused. The girls locked eyes for an instant before Sookie slid into the chair next to Lorelai.

"Have you heard from him?" Sookie asked, not daring to look directly at her friend.

"No." Lorelai replied quietly, trying to blink back her tears.

The next day, Rory approached Lorelai tentatively. "Mom, I need a favor." Rory said with some hesitation.

"What sweets?"

"I need you to get me out of dinner tonight." She implored.

"Oh, Rory." She sighed.

"Dean's coming home and he doesn't know about the accident and if I'm not there the second he gets home then someone else is gonna tell him about it and then that would be…".

"Horrible." Lorelai supplied.

"Yes." Rory sighed. 

Lorelai nodded, "I agree."

"I really hate to ask you this." Rory said morosely.

"Ah, forget about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, absolutely." Lorelai answered, "Make things right with Dean."

"I really appreciate this."

"No problem." Lorelai shrugged, "In fact, it gives me a little extra time to work on my 'why Rory's wearing a cast' story for your grandparents."

Rory's curiosity was piqued, "Yeah? What do you got so far?"

"Really big bees." Lorelai answered with a smile.

"Huh." Rory said as if she were considering the plausibility of the story, "Well, it's good you've got the time."

"Yeah, it is." Lorelai agreed, wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulders as they walked.

That night, Lorelai dodged a bullet with her parents, since they were distracted by Richard's start up woes. Rory stood in front of Dean and handed him a letter explaining all that had happened since he left. Lorelai agreed to help Richard get set up and hire a new assistant. Dean forgave Rory, and invited her to have dinner with his family. Late that night, alone in her room with no daughter or curious townies looking on, Lorelai finally let herself go, and wept because he hadn't called, and she was afraid that she had lost Luke forever. When she had no tears left, she sat up, turned on the light, and pulled a pad of paper and a pen from her bedside table, and poured her heart out onto the paper. When she had filled four pages, she hopped out of bed, shoved her feet into some shoes, pulled on a sweatshirt and ran through the darkened town in her pajamas. Finding the key on the doorjamb, she let herself into the diner, crept up the stairs to his apartment, and slid it under the door.

The next night, Lorelai and Rory were obligated to attend the launch party that Emily was hosting for Richard's new business. When her grandparents asked about the cast on Rory's arm, she told them about the accident, carefully omitting the fact that Jess was in the car with her. The girls shared a look of understanding behind the Gilmore's backs. Later, Lorelai thanked Rory for leaving Jess out of the story. Rory grew angry because she thought that her mother was only thanking her for protecting Luke, and did not care enough about what had happened to Jess, and she called her out on it. They argued, and Rory left the party, claiming that she was sick. In actuality, she was sick. And tired. She was sick and tired of everyone blaming Jess, painting him as the villain, but forgiving her without question. She caught the bus for Stars Hollow. She was walking through town, trying to clear her head, when she saw Luke unloading his fishing gear in front of the diner. Rory approached him shyly. "Hey." She called to him softly.

Luke turned around, surprised to see her, "Rory." He said just as softly.

"You're back?" she asked.

"I'm back." He answered, still unloading the truck.

"You catch anything?"

"Nah. Apparently the fish went fishing also.' He said with a small, sad smile.

"Too bad."

"Yeah, well." He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and rocked back on his heels nervously, "So that's the, uh. . ." he said gesturing to her cast.

"Yeah." Rory answered with a nod.

"Does it hurt?" Luke asked cautiously.

Rory shook her head, "No, not really. Just itches a little."

"Yeah, I can imagine." He commiserated, "Make sure you don't use a pencil." He told her without segue.

"Excuse me?" she asked, perplexed.

"Your arm. . . you know, when it itches." He tried to explain, "I broke my arm once – itching drove me crazy. Grabbed a pencil, shoved it down the cast to scratch, ya know..." 

Rory smiled at him, "Bad results?" she asked.

"Bad results." He confirmed.

"Got it. No pencils, I promise." She said firmly.

"Good." He rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to proceed, "So, you want some coffee?"

"Sure." She answered and followed him into the darkened diner.

"Where's your mom tonight?" Luke asked, trying not to appear too anxious.

"At a party for my Grandpa." Rory informed him. She saw the disappointment flicker in his eyes, but he kept his face impassive.

"Oh, sounds nice. Grab yourself a donut." He said gesturing to the display case.

Rory selected a donut and picked at it listlessly, finally she asked "So, have you heard from him?"

"Oh, no." Luke answered, "I talked to his mom, though. He got home okay."

"Good, that's good." She said nodding like a bobble head.

"Yeah, good." Luke agreed absently.

"What about his stuff?"

"Oh, well, I can send it." Luke said, trying to act casually.

Rory continued nodding, "Right, makes sense." She stopped and looked up at him seriously, "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't his fault." She said plainly.

Luke smiled at her gently, "I know it wasn't."

"Mom has really been a wreck." Rory confessed. "She keeps trying to act like it's no big deal, but it's tearing her up inside. I think she thinks that it's over between you two. Is it over?" she asked her eyes begging him to tell her it's not.

Luke sighed, and traced his fingertip along the edge of the counter, when he looked up at her, she saw the pain in his eyes. "I don't know." He said in a voice that was choked with emotion.

Rory nodded sadly. She slid off of the stool, and reached over to pat his hand awkwardly, saying "I hope not. I know you love her, and she loves you so much. I hope that you work it out." With that she turned and walked out of the door.

Luke cleaned the coffee pot, turned out the lights, and grabbed his bag to head upstairs. He felt like he was trying to run through molasses, his movements slow and almost painful. Finally, he reached the top of the stairs, opened the lock and looked at his empty apartment. Most of Jess' belongings were still there, and he felt like they were mocking him for his weakness. He stepped into the apartment, and his foot sent a thick packet of folded paper skittering across the floor. He quickly bent down to retrieve it, unfolding it even before he straightened up. He smiled involuntarily when he saw the Garfield note paper covered with Lorelai's loopy scrawl. The first words on the page were 'I'm so sorry. I was wrong, so wrong. I love you. Please tell me that you still love me too.'

Luke sank to the couch, scanning the pages quickly. He was relieved to know that she still wanted him, but when he finished her note, he still felt a hard knot of anger in his gut. Luke knew that he would forgive her, as she forgave him, but he couldn't bring himself to do it quite yet.


	25. When Mimi Met Katie

**A/N: My thrid update today. Are you sick of me yet? I just can't seem to stop. Anyway, never fear, this should get us over the hump. Thanks for sticking with me!**

When Mimi met Katie

That night, Rory told Lorelai that Luke was home. She confirmed that Jess had gone back to his mother's, and related what they had talked about. Lorelai waited in vain for the phone to ring, but it never did. She had said in her note that she would wait for him to tell her when he was ready to talk, knowing that Luke needed time to process things. For the next few days, in an unprecedented show of patience for Lorelai Gilmore, she waited. She did go into the diner for coffee because she didn't want to add more gossip to the rumors already flying around. When she saw him, they kept their conversation polite, using those time honored favorites 'Good morning.' 'How's it going?', and the ever scintillating 'Wow, busy today, huh?'. Rory watched her mom struggle to keep an optimistic outlook on things. Luckily, Lorelai was in the throes of final exams at business school, and therefore, had the perfect excuse to bury herself in the books for hours.

With Lorelai's graduation day fast approaching, Rory decided to take matters into her own hands. She slipped a typewritten note to Luke with the date, time and place of the graduation ceremony, and watched carefully as he read it, nodded and placed it in his shirt pocket. On the day of graduation, Luke could not bring himself to miss this important event in her life, no matter how bad things were between them. He slipped into the auditorium clutching a bouquet of red roses, hoping to snag a seat near the back. Rory saw him, and stood to wave him over to where she was sitting with Sookie and her grandparents. Luke greeted them warmly, but was thankful that the ceremony started before any conversation could be expected. After Lorelai received her diploma, he hung back while the others offered their congratulations, and snapped pictures with the graduate. Finally, she turned to him, her eyes bright with tears. "You came." She said in a breathy voice.

"Of course." He replied, "Here, these are for you." He said handing her the bouquet. She took them and buried her face in the fragrant blooms. "I'm very proud of you." He said in a hoarse voice.

"Thank you." She said, blushing. She leaned in to grasp his hand urgently, "Can we talk?" she implored.

He shook his head, "Not yet." He saw her face cloud over. "Soon." He promised in a whisper. Just then, Richard clapped Luke on the back asking if he was joining them for the celebratory dinner. Luke politely refused, saying that he was needed at the diner. Taking one last look at Lorelai, he kissed her chastely on the cheek, and said "Congratulations."

The tension in their exchange was not lost on Emily Gilmore. She had sensed before that evening that something was going on between Lorelai and Luke. Oddly, the triumph she thought that she would feel upon having it confirmed was overshadowed by the sadness she felt when she saw the pain in their eyes. For once in her life, Emily decided it was best not to interfere.

The rest of the week passed without word form Luke, and Lorelai was beginning to give up hope. Sookie's wedding was in two days, and she immersed herself in helping her friend handle the last minute details. That Friday night, instead of having dinner with her parents, Lorelai was at Sookie's trying to keep the happy smile glued to her face for the duration of the rehearsal dinner and party. Needing to take a breather, Lorelai stepped out onto the porch. She was sitting on the steps, trying to decide what to do about Luke, then she heard the guests inside the house humming the wedding march to Sookie and Jackson for some reason. Hearing the tune, Lorelai's eyes filled with tears and she felt all hope draining from her body_. I have to know. _She thought as she felt the tears falling from her eyes._ I have to know if it's over. I can't wait any longer. _Lorelai stood, wiped her eyes, and started walking toward Luke's.

The diner was closed, but as she approached, she saw him standing at the counter sorting the day's receipts. She spied the coffee pot resting on the counter, almost as if he was expecting her. She took it as a sign.

The bells jingled as she entered. "We're closed." Luke growled without looking up.

"I know." She said softly, "Look, I wouldn't even have come here at all but I had a really crappy night and I really, really need a cup of coffee. Just pretend I'm not me." She said as she poured the coffee and sat down at the end of the counter, crying softly. Luke tried his best to ignore her. "This is the second time I let myself do this." She said with a sniffle.

"Do what?" he asked, not daring to look at her.

"Think I finally found it." She replied

"Found what?" he asked patiently.

"Love, comfort, safety." She trailed off staring into her coffee cup.

"Ah" he said, catching her drift.

"I mean, first with Max, which of course, I screwed up, and then with you, which of course, I screwed up again. And the worst part about it? I can't even talk to my best friend about it, because my best friend is you." She said, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "I just," she paused to take a deep breath, "I just need to talk to my friend Luke and ask him… ask him how do I fix this?" Luke looked up from his receipts, and stared out the window, his jaw working, furiously trying to hold back his tears.

Lorelai continued speaking softly, not checking to see if he was really listening. "I thought maybe we could do it. Maybe we could really be a family, in the stupid, traditional 'Dan Quayle, golden retriever, grow old together, wear matching jogging suits' kind of way."

He looked over at her, his eyes filled with a mixture of love and pain, but she continued blindly. "I mean, I'm lucky, I know. I have a good life. I just. . .I feel like I'm never gonna have it. . .the whole package, you know? My life just feels so empty without you there sharing it with me. I just want the whole package."

Luke cleared his throat and said gruffly, "You'll get it."

"How do you know?" she asked hopefully.

"I know." He said with quiet conviction.

She raised her tear stained face to meet his eyes, "Will you ever be able to forgive me?" she whispered.

Luke stared down at the counter, gathering his thoughts. Finally he said, "Lorelai, I already forgave you. I'm just trying to figure out how to forgive myself."

"What?" she asked, stunned by his assertion.

He looked at her and said "I love you Lorelai. You know that. I love you and I love Rory, but I had an obligation to Jess, to my family. And, I let my love for you make me do something that I know in my heart was wrong." He said quietly, his voice filled with remorse. "I don't know how to get past that."

She moved over to him, grasped his arm and looked at him pleadingly. "I was wrong. I was so wrong to make you choose. Bring him home, Luke."

"What?" he asked, not believing what he had heard.

"Bring him home." She stated emphatically. "Call him. We will go get him tonight. Just bring him back so that we can make this right for all of us."

"Call him?" he asked slowly.

"Yes!" she said moving toward the telephone, "What's his number?" Luke rattled off the number automatically, still trying to catch up with her. Lorelai pressed the receiver to her ear as the phone rang. Finally she heard Jess answer. "Jess? It's Lorelai. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry about everything. We want you to come home. To Stars Hollow. Will you come? Luke, Rory and I could drive down and pick you up tomorrow if you want…"


	26. Emily Sees All

**A/N: Wow! That work thing really cramped my style today! I feel like a slacker. Here is an update. I will start on 27 later this evening. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!**

Emily Sees All

Lorelai's rambling was met with silence on the other end of the telephone line. Finally, Jess asked, "Lorelai? Lorelai Gilmore?"

"Yes, Jess, it's me. We all want you to come back home. Will you?" she asked in a rush.

More silence. Just when Lorelai was about to launch into another round of pleading Jess said, "Is Luke there?"

Lorelai responded, "Yes. Yes, Luke is standing right next to me. He wants you to come back too."

"Can I talk to Luke? Please?" Jess said tersely.

Lorelai held the phone out to Luke silently, "Hey." Luke greeted his nephew.

"Is she high?" Jess asked harshly.

"No, no I don't think so." Luke smiled at Lorelai as he answered.

"She wants me to move back?" Jess asked incredulously.

"Yep." Monosyllabic Man struck again.

"Why?" Jess asked, starting to get agitated, "So the loony townspeople can track me down and come at me with tar and feathers?"

"I don't think that will happen." Luke answered with a straight face.

"What, they're gonna give me a brass band and the key to the city?" Jess asked his uncle, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Have you forgotten that I damaged the Sweetheart of Stars Hollow?" he asked incredulous.

"No, no we have not forgotten, but things have cooled down now. We all know it was just an accident." Luke said, giving Lorelai a penetrating look. Lorelai nodded vigorously.

"And you want me back, too?" Jess asked, not quite believing it.

"Yes." Luke answered making it clear that he had no doubt about it. "But Jess, there would have to be some changes. No more troublemaking, no stealing, no vandalizing, whatever. And, you have to go to school, do the work, graduate. If you are willing to agree to that, then yes, I definitely want you back here."

Jess paused for a moment, not wanting to sound too anxious, then said in a challenging tone "I have plans tomorrow."

Luke smiled at his nephew's obvious desire to come back to the town he derided for so long. "That's fine. Lorelai forgot in all her excitement that we have plans tomorrow, too." When she looked at him questioningly he mouthed 'Sookie's wedding!' to her. She gasped and covered her mouth in shock. She had completely forgotten. "How about we meet you at the bus in Hartford on Sunday? Would that work?"

"Yeah." Jess answered slowly, "I'll call. Let you know what bus I can catch out of here."

"Good. Good." Luke nodded at Lorelai emphatically, she bounced and clapped softly, "Call me and let me know. Leave a message if I am not here, okay?"

"Okay" Jess replied shortly, and hung up.

Luke put the receiver back on the hook and turned to look at Lorelai with a satisfied smile. She launched herself at him, grateful when his arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her close. Hers tears of relief dampened the flannel of his shirt as he stroked her back soothingly, crooning "It's okay. Everything will be okay. We'll make everything okay."

"Thank God." She murmured into the soft material covering his chest.

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory were at the inn early to help Sookie get ready for the big day. They could hear music drifting up from the lawn, the muted cries of people greeting each other, and the scurrying feet of the staff as they rushed around making sure that all was perfect for Sookie's wedding. Lorelai had just finished slipping into her dress, and stood smoothing the fabric over her hips. Lost in thought, she remembered how Luke had held her hand tightly as he walked her home last. When they reached the porch, he bowed his head, and placed a soft kiss, filled with love, on her lips saying "What time should I be there tomorrow?"

Lorelai grinned, relieved that he would be coming to the wedding after all. "Well, we have to be there early to get ready, so why don't you come by about 30 minutes before." She smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling, "That way, I can tell you how handsome you look in your suit."

He groaned, he had forgotten about the dreaded suit aspect of weddings. "Okay." he said, and after kissing her again, he turned to walk home. He had gotten halfway across the yard when he turned back to see her still standing on the porch, staring after him. "What are you doing?" he asked, a smile in his voice.

"I told you before. I like lookin' at ya." She smiled, blushed, and turned to go in. Letting the door close softly behind her, she hugged herself with glee.

Lorelai finished hooking her necklace, and walked over to the window to look down on the lawn. She scanned the early arrivals, hoping for a glimpse of him. Sookie looked over at her friend, and smiled smugly. "Is he here yet?" she asked knowingly.

"I don't know." Lorelai smiled at being caught, "I don't see him."

Sookie smoothed her nervous hands down her skirt and said, "Hey, why don't you two go on ahead and go down there?" Seeing that her friend was about to protest, Sookie held up a hand to stop her. "Jackson's mother and aunt are coming up here anyway, I advise you to get out while the getting' is good, missy." She warned, pointing toward the door.

Lorelai went over, and embraced her friend saying "You look beautiful." She stood back to admire Sookie's dress again. "It's a beautiful day out there. Perfect. I'm so happy for you and Jackson." She said sincerely.

Blinking rapidly, Sookie said, "Oh! Now you are going to make me cry!" as she waved a hand frantically in front of her eyes, "Go. Now. And take that pretty girl with you!" she said pointing to Rory, who was sitting quietly in a chair, holding a book and watching her mom and Sookie with a soft smile. She got up and came over to hug Sookie tightly. The bride, waved her hand in front of her eyes again and said "Go! Get! The two of you, out now, before you make me blubber all over my pretty dress!" Sookie wailed.

As they walked out of the inn, Rory made a beeline directly for Dean, who was waiting patiently, hovering near the door. Lorelai chatted with them for a moment, but her eyes never stopped scanning the gathering crowd. She saw her parents approach, rounding the corner of the verandah, so she started across the lawn to greet them. Just before she reached them, she saw Luke step away from Morey and Babette, and put his hand out for Richard to shake. She saw him greet Emily with a smile and what must have been a smooth compliment, because she could swear she saw her mother preen a bit.

When she stepped up behind them, she touched Luke softly on the sleeve, whispering "Hey." softly in his ear. She could almost feel the shiver that her warm breath in his ear caused to run down his spine. He turned to her slowly, his eyes lighting, and his polite smile melting into genuine warmth. Lorelai beamed at him, and for a moment they were locked into a world of their own. It was not lost on Emily and Richard, who each took a couple of discreet steps back so that the younger couple could have a moment of privacy.

Luke's eyes swept over her, taking in the dress that she had made for her friend's wedding, the small flowers on the clip holding her hair, the delicate chain around her throat, he was entranced. "You look beautiful." He said his voice rough with feeling.

"Thank you." She said with a blush tingeing her cheeks, "You look pretty nice yourself. I'm lovin' the tie." She complimented. Reluctant to take her eyes off of him, Lorelai finally turned to her parents and greeted them. "Mom, Dad, you came." She stated the obvious.

Emily drew herself up a bit and said "Well, of course we came, Lorelai, we were invited."

Lorelai caught challenge that her mother's voice held and retorted "I thought you thought the invitation was rude!"

Emily smiled smugly, "It was rude. However, it would've been equally rude for us not to attend the wedding when we were perfectly capable of doing so, so we came. That's called rising above it." She shot back triumphantly.

Too happy to enter into full engagement in verbal warfare with her mother, Lorelai simply shook her head at the logic and said "I see. Do you wanna come back down here long enough to get a drink?"

"Yes, that would be nice." Emily said with a smile.

Luke volunteered, "I'll get it for you.'

"Champagne, please." Emily ordered.

Luke smirked at Lorelai asking "Do you want me to make that two?" 

"Absolutely." She replied with a comical wink.

Richard perked up and said, "I believe I'll join you, see what sort of scotch they're serving here."

Luke leaned over and whispered "For God's sake, don't leave me alone at the bar with him today." Lorelai giggled as they walked away.

Emily watched her daughter shrewdly. When Lorelai saw the calculating look in her mother's eyes, she stepped back automatically, "What?' she asked suspiciously.

"You're happy." Emily lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug.

"I am." Lorelai replied with a huge grin, watching Luke cross the lawn with her father.

"Everything is alright now?" Emily asked cautiously.

Lorelai's face closed up as her head whipped around to stare at Emily, "What does that mean?" she snapped.

Emily held up a hand in a defensive manner. "No need to jump on me, Lorelai! For God's sake, I have eyes! A blind man could have seen that you and Luke were having trouble lately! I simply want to know if you are okay now, that is all." She stated firmly.

Lorelai bit her lip and looked down at her shoes, debating about how much she should reveal. Finally, when her head snapped up, the smile was back in place. "Luke and I are fine." was all that she said.

"Good." Emily exhaled, "That's good. Believe it or not, Lorelai, I have actually come to like Luke." Lorelai eyed her mother warily. "It's true." Emily insisted, "I may not be as enamored with him as you are, or your father is, for that matter, but I do believe that you are happy together. And, I guess that is all that matters, isn't it?"

"Yes. We are happy together. Thanks Mom." She smiled at Emily with warmth, and Emily basked in the unexpected pleasure it gave her. "Oh!" Lorelai exclaimed, "I had better find Rory, or they will start without us!" Just then Luke and Richard approached them, hands full of glasses. Lorelai plucked her champagne flute from Luke's hand, took a sip and kissed him firmly on the lips. "I'll see you after." She whispered. "Save me a dance?" she flirted.

Luke smiled at her saying "I don't dance." in a teasing tone.

She looked at him knowingly and replied confidently, "With me, you'll dance." She leaned in to whisper in his ear, "we'll dance close, very close." as she brushed up against his arm.

His eyes darkened before his smile widened as he gave her a playful push in the right direction saying "Behave!" he admonished with mock severity, "Go! Go find Rory." Turning back to her parents, he heard her laughter floating on the breeze, and all was right in his world.

The wedding itself went off without a hitch. Lorelai was so mesmerized by Luke's adoring gaze as she walked down the aisle, she was amazed that she didn't fall on her face. When she reached the minister and turned to look for Sookie, she locked eyes with him. The electricity between them was so intense that she was surprised that it didn't arc. Finally, she tore her eyes from him just in time to see Sookie beaming at her kilt-clad Jackson as if he had hung the moon. Tears sprang to Lorelai's eyes. She was happy for Sookie and Jackson, but she could admit to herself that she was a little jealous of them too.

As they turned to each other to take their vows, Lorelai again found herself looking at Luke. His eyes had never left her face. He witnessed the entire ceremony simply by watching the emotions play across Lorelai's face. While their friends spoke their vows, Luke and Lorelai were both filled with the knowledge that this was it for them. This was the person that would complete that package.

Later, dinner had been consumed, toasts had been given, the cake had been cut, and the band was in full swing. Lorelai sat at a round table draped with white linen and strewn with flowers. She chatted with Babette and Miss Patty while Emily looked on, trying not to show her amusement at the running commentary the three women had going about various wedding guests. Jackson's family and extended relations became easy targets for them, especially Cousin Beau, who insisted on giving Lorelai the eye all day, much to Luke's chagrin. Richard had once again dragged Luke off to the bar under the guise of fetching after dinner drinks for the ladies. Lorelai had to giggle a little when she saw him surreptitiously steady himself with the back of his chair before following Richard dutifully. The champagne had been flowing freely, and Lorelai was feeling no pain herself. She laughed at a catty comment Babette had made about Taylor's ill-fitting suit, all the while keeping Luke within her sights.

_There are too many people around. _She thought, her eyes scanning the lawn._ I want to be alone with him. I want to be alone with him so that I can rip that suit off of him. Preferably with my teeth… _Patty with her unerring sense of all things lustful, did not miss the longing look in Lorelai's eyes as she looked for her man. She leaned back in her chair, casually fitting her cigarette into a long holder before holding it out for an unsuspecting male to light for her gallantly. She blew a thin stream of smoke into the air as she narrowed her eyes at Lorelai, but addressed Emily. "Emily dear, what do you think about that handsome hunk of man that Lorelai has snagged?" she asked gesturing vaguely in the direction of the bar.

Lorelai's spine stiffened at the question, but Emily answered unperturbed. "Luke seems like a very nice young man." She said primly.

"Nice." Patty rolled the word around for a moment. "Yes, Luke is very nice." She conceded, "But that would not be the first word I would choose to describe him."

"Patty.." Lorelai started to warn her off.

"He's hot!" Babette chimed in, always eager to discuss the subject of men in general.

Patty offered them both a feline smile, "Hot. That's a good word." She told Babette, who smiled back proudly, "But the word I was thinking of was fierce." She said shifting her address to Lorelai.

"Fierce?" Lorelai had to answer with a laugh. "Fierce?" she asked again.

"Oh, you may laugh dear," Patty nodded, "because I am sure that you get to see the sweet side of Luke that no one else gets to see." She nodded knowingly and continued, "But I would say fierce. There." She said pointing her cigarette at Luke who was gathering the drinks from the bar, and explained "is a man who would protect you, and Rory, with his life. He would slay a dragon for you. He would pull the stars from the sky if you asked." Patty gestured dramatically. "He is also fiercely sexy, but so shy! I bet he's a real tiger when you get him in bed!" she concluded with a wink.

Emily watched, her eyes wide as she drank in the scene. She glanced quickly at her daughter and saw that Lorelai's face was soft and she smiling contentedly, as if she knew the words that this flamboyant woman spoke were true. She looked up to see Luke and Richard approaching. They handed aperitifs to each of the ladies, and then Luke bent down to whisper in Lorelai's ear. Emily watched the smile spread and intensify until she would have sworn it would light Las Vegas. Lorelai rose from her chair, placing her hand demurely in his, as he led her to the dance floor. Emily and Richard watched as Luke nodded to one of the musicians and the music quickly changed to a slow song. He gathered Lorelai close to him, her hand clasped gently in his, his hand splayed over her lower back, and he began to waltz, leading her in graceful circles around the dance floor. Richard watched Emily stare at them in fascination, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Misunderstanding her emotion, Richard leaned over and whispered "He loves her, Emmy. They love each other. Please don't fight this."

Emily looked at her husband, the tears making her eyes bright, "I know, Richard." She said patting his hand reassuringly, "I'm just happy that she's so happy."

Richard smiled at her lovingly, stood and offered his hand to her to lead her to the dance floor. As he wrapped his arms around her, Emily felt an overwhelming sense of well being.


	27. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Luke?

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Luke?

Luke held Lorelai close to him as they danced. He inhaled the sweet scent of her perfume, and pressed a soft kiss to her temple. He murmured against the tender skin, "I'm so happy."

She smiled against his shoulder, "I'm ecstatic." She replied.

He pulled back to look at her and said "I love you, Lorelai."

Her smile widened and she answered "I adore you, Luke." pressing her cheek against him, so she could feel his heart beating.

He chuckled at her need to one-up him. Placing a little more pressure on her back, he pulled her closer still so that she could feel his obvious arousal. "I want you." He growled in her ear.

Her smile was triumphant as she said "I want you to want me as much as I want you."

He laughed out loud and said "A guy just can't win." shaking his head at her antics.

She basked in the sound of his laughter. Spotting her parents on the dance floor, Lorelai nudged Luke a little and said "Check it out." nodding toward Richard and Emily dancing with the ease of many years spent in each others arms. Luke smiled, catching her meaning. "Now look over there." She said gesturing toward Sookie and Jackson, gazing at each other blissfully as they made the barest swaying motion on the floor.

Luke studied the other couples around them for a moment, and then flashed a cocky grin saying "I think that we can compete with this crowd."

"Definitely" she answered, smiling at him as the song ended. She started to step back from him, but he pulled her to him again. "Wait." He said as he waited to hear the next song. When another ballad began, he looked down at her and said "Stay here with me."

She beamed up at him, and said in a teasing voice "I thought you said that you don't dance."

"Well, I'm pathological liar." He replied with a shrug. They continued to dance cheek to cheek for the duration of the song.

Reluctant, to let go, but unsure about pushing her luck, she looked into his eyes as the song ended, preparing to return to their table, but Luke held firm as the next song started. "Wow three in a row! How lucky can a girl get!" she said joyfully.

"Well, I slipped the guy a twenty to keep 'em slow for a while." He admitted with a sheepish grin. He saw her eyes widen at his audacity. Then he spoke in a low voice, his lips grazing her ear, "Stay with me tonight, and I will show you just how lucky a girl can get."

She giggled, delighted, and pulled back to make a sassy comment. Seeing his indigo eyes filled with longing made her forget the quippy comment that she was about to make. Breathless, she answered "I would love to." She reached up to bury her fingers in the soft curls at his neck, and pulled him in for a lingering kiss.

Later that night, they strolled through the square hand in hand, walking back to Luke's apartment. They were both a little tipsy, and Lorelai was definitely a little silly, but it was okay, because Luke was more than a little smitten. He laughed as she hopped up onto a bench, holding her to perform an impromptu soft shoe for his entertainment, catching her at the waist when he was sure she would topple over. Luke pointed out places around the town that held special memories for him as a kid. She was tickled to learn that her straight-laced Luke was a bit mischievous as a teenager. In a moment of weakness, he confessed to her that he was the reason that the church bells no longer tolled the hour. Of course, this led to a mini-rant about the noise and annoyance they had caused when they rang. Lorelai grinned at his ravings declaring "I love Ranting Luke."

Finally they reached the door of the diner, and he allowed her to precede him as they made their way upstairs, stopping to kiss and stumble and bump and laugh all the way to his door. When Lorelai entered the apartment, she realized soberly that she had not been in it since the renovations had been completed. She looked at the newly constructed bedroom walls flanking each end of the apartment, noting that Luke had hung pictures of fish and sailboats on some of them. He stepped around her to turn on the lamp in the living room, and saw that the answering machine light was flashing. He called to her "Grab us something to drink, I'm just going to check my messages real quickly."

She kicked off the strappy sandals that had been killing her and walked toward the fridge she heard Jess' voice come from the machine. "Luke, it's me." _He certainly has his uncle's economy with words_, she thought with a wry smile. "I will be on the bus that gets into Hartford at 1:20 tomorrow afternoon. Give me a call if that's a bad time, or…" he hesitated for a moment, "something has come up since we talked last night. Okay, bye."

Luke rubbed his hands together and turned to Lorelai with a grin, stunned to find her holding the handle to the refrigerator, staring at it with unseeing eyes, her face darkened with sadness. "Lorelai?" he called softly, jarring her from her thoughts.

She turned to him and smiled sadly "I have to tell you, I have never regretted anything as much as I do the words I said that night. The moment you turned and walked away from me, I knew I had made a terrible mistake." She said as she walked to the couch and sank down on the cushion. He sat down next to her and took her hand in his, preparing to speak, but she continued determinedly. "I hate that night. I hate that I tried to make you choose between Jess and me, us. I would take it all back in a heartbeat."

"I know." Luke said tenderly as he ran a hand down her hair. "I know."

"I was just so upset and angry. My baby was hurt, and I was hurt. I know it was unreasonable, but I expected you to keep her from being hurt, protect her. So, I wanted to hurt you, and I did." She let a bitter laugh escape. "I know what family means to you, Luke. And I know that you think of me and Rory as family. What I said that night was a low blow, and I apologize to you from the bottom of my heart." she said sincerely, grasping his hand in hers.

He looked at this woman that he loved so much. He, better than anyone, knows how proud she is, and how stubborn. Her heartfelt apology was all he needed to hear to know that they were going to be okay. He waited until she lifted her eyes to him and said simply, "Apology accepted." pulling her in for a tight hug, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you so much. More than I ever thought I could love anyone other than Rory." She whispered.

His heart swelled at the words she gave him. "I love you too." He replied, "More than you will ever know." He kissed her passionately, and when they broke apart, he stared into her eyes and said "It's over. It's done. From here we move forward." He thought of his mother's diamond, which he had taken to the jeweler that Richard had recommended the day after that nerve wracking dinner, and had reset for her. "Agreed?" he asked hopefully.

"Agreed." She answered giddy with the relief of telling him everything. "Promise me we'll never fight again." She implored.

Luke barked a laugh. Lorelai belatedly realized the absurdity of the request she just made of him, and giggled too. Luke smiled at her lovingly and asked lightly "Are you determined to make a liar out of me?" Lorelai shook her head emphatically trying to stop laughing. When she quieted, he said seriously, "Lorelai, we are going to fight. Sometimes, it may even get a bit ugly, and we may say things that we don't really mean. But, I will promise you this. I will not walk away from you again. No matter what happens."

Lorelai looked back at him lovingly and said "Luke, I promise you that I will try to take some time to control my temper, to be careful about what I say, and to never try to hurt you intentionally again."

"So, we're good?" he asked her.

"We're good. And we're going to be great." She grinned at him. "Wow. That was a sobering talk, wasn't it?" she asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, it was." he agreed. Luke shot her a pointed look and said, "You're a buzz kill." pointing an accusatory finger at her teasingly.

"Well," she drawled with a twinkle in her eye, "let me see if I can do something to get you buzzing again." Lorelai nipped playfully at his finger before drawing it into her mouth suggestively.

She saw his eyes darken, and his eyelids grow heavy with desire. "That will do it" he said in husky voice, and pulled her down on him to plunder her lips. They grappled passionately on the couch, desperate to touch each other again. Finally, Luke pulled away, breathing heavily, and looked at her steadily.

Her eyes glazed with lust, Lorelai groaned at the interruption, "Please, for the love of God, please don't ell me that you think we need to wait." she said imploringly, "I don't want to wait. I want you now." She demanded.

Luke rewarded her with that slightly arrogant grin that always made her yearn to teach him a lesson in humility. "Oh no." he assured her, "there will be no more waiting. I was just thinking that I know a place that would be infinitely more comfortable than this old couch."

"Oh." She replied, relieved but vaguely chagrined that she admitted her weakness to him. Giving herself a mental shrug, she said "Well, by all means, lead on." scrambling to relinquish her position atop of him.

Luke stood and held out his hand to pull her from the couch. He led her to the newly constructed door to his bedroom and said "Welcome back." as he opened it to reveal his new room. Her giddy grin softened into a smile filled with wonder as she stepped into the room. She saw the bigger bed flanked by two marching nightstands. One, which she presumed was his side, held an old alarm clock and a picture frame. She stepped closer to inspect it, and found that it was a picture of the two of them, standing together, their faces in shadows backlit by the bonfire from the last Firelight Festival, which he attended under protest.

She picked up the photo, in which their heads were turned toward each other, and they were obviously smiling at one another. Her finger traced the outline of him on the glass covering the picture, she turned to him and asked "Where did you get his?" touched that he had taken the trouble to frame it and place it by his bed.

Still standing in the doorway, he shrugged and said "Kirk took it. He gave me a copy."

She turned to walk toward the other side, and noticed a small television on a table near the foot of the bed. When she looked at the other nightstand saw that it held a reading lamp, the remote control for the television and small stack of trashy tabloid magazines. She sat on the edge of the bed staring at them. She touched them tentatively with her fingertip, and saw that they were covered in a light layer of dust. She looked at her fingertip as if seeing it for the first time, then looked up at him and asked "Is this for me?" not quite processing.

He shrugged again and said, "Of course." She stared at him standing in the doorway. His shoulders almost filled it entirely. She stared at how the opened buttons on his white dress shirt exposed his tanned throat, her gaze traveled to see that the sleeves of the shirt were rolled up to release his strong forearms from their restraints. She admired how his suit pants clung to his narrow hips and draped themselves over his muscular thighs. Her eyes traveled to his face. The strong jaw, the soft lips, and those eyes! Those eyes that held her fast. _Fierce, _She thought to herself_, fierce is the right word._

Lorelai rose from the bed slowly, stepping over to where he stood silently. He reached a hand up, and released the clip that held her hair, dropping it to the floor with careless disregard. His fingers ran through her hair, pulling it from its style until it lay across her shoulders. Lorelai's lips parted, and she moaned his name softly. "Luke" she breathed as her eyes closed and she pressed her head into the palm of his hand. He cradled it gently, and bringing the other up to match, kissed her deeply, his thumbs brushing the tender skin under her jaw.

She felt his hands slide down to trace the zipper on the back of her dress. He lifted his lips from hers and said in a raspy whisper "Your dress is beautiful, but I am afraid that it has to come off now." as her began to pull the zipper down slowly. His other hand reached to brush aside the thin strap that held it on her shoulder, but he was considerate enough to replace it with his lips. The silky material began to slide from her body, and finally pooled in a turquoise puddle at her feet.

Her fingers began to work the buttons on his shirt. She pressed wet kisses to the hollow of his throat and nipped at his neck. She wondered briefly if he would think it was weird if she asked him to leave it on, liking the way his skin looked against the open collar. She dismissed the thought, knowing that she needed to feel his skin on hers.

Luke traced the top of her strapless bra lightly, and placed a hand on her back to steady her as he walked her back toward his bed. When her knees hit the mattress she sank down onto it, pulling him with her as she went. Lorelai smiled up at him and said "My, what a big bed you have!" her eyes sparkling with suppressed laughter.

He bent to kiss her passionately. When he drew back to see her eyes glazed with desire he grinned down at her and said in a husky growl, "All the better to ravish you in, my dear,"


	28. Coffee, Collapsable Cups, and Coupons

**A/N: I am so glad to be writing about happier things again! Thanks for all of your great reviews!**

Coffee, Collapsible Cups, Commies and Coupons.

So, Jess came back to Stars Hollow. His return was heralded with neither friction nor fanfare, and soon they all fell into a routine. Lorelai and Luke were anxious to launch 'Operation Slumber Par-tay' (Lorelai's name, not Luke's), as soon as possible. After re-approaching the subject with both Jess and Rory, they fell into a routine of sorts.

They agreed that Lorelai would spend at least one night a week at the apartment, usually the night before Luke had an early morning delivery. She would share dinner at with Rory at the diner and then stay on for the evening. Sometimes, she would bring work home from the inn, so that she could keep busy while Luke finished the day and closed the diner. Sometimes, she would hang out up in the apartment, flipping channels on the bedroom TV while waiting like an inpatient Cinderella for her prince to come. Sometimes, she would sit at the counter, chin in her hand, swinging her feet, batting her eyelashes, and jabbering non-stop until Luke would relent and bribe Jess to close for him by paying him time and a half for the rest of the evening. He told his nephew that it was a small price to pay for the peace of mind. Despite his initial protest that the renovation of the apartment was unnecessary, Jess was inordinately fond of his walls and door, and made good use of them. Lorelai did her best to remain discreet and unobtrusive when she was there, not wanting to cause any more discomfort with Luke's nephew then they already had. For his part, Luke became adept at playing traffic cop for the use of the single bathroom, thus saving all involved any embarrassing moments.

It came to pass that Luke would spend more time at the Gilmore house. He told Lorelai that it was because her bed was more comfortable for him, but really, it was because it went against all of his instincts to leave Rory alone in the house, with no one to protect her. Silly? Maybe. Old Fashioned? Definitely. But that was the way he was, and there wasn't anything in the world that could change it. On those mornings after he stayed, Luke, being Luke, would gather all of his belongings at the crack of dawn, and creep down the steps, boots in hand and sneak out before Rory awakened. Logically, he knew that it made no sense. After all, she would wave good night to him the night before, and he knew that she knew that he was staying there, but he could not bring himself to be there when she woke up, he was, after all, Luke.

On one of those mornings, when Luke reached the bottom of the stairs, he sat down to put his boots on, he got the stuffing scared out of him by a seventeen year old girl. When Rory popped up from the couch, he yelped, an oddly squeaky sound coming from such a manly man. Rory spoke in a demanding voice, "I was told when I agreed to this whole thing, that there would be pancakes involved!"

Holding his hand over his heart, Luke tried to calm his breathing, "Geez kid, you nearly scared me to death!"

"Yeah, yeah." She dismissed his cardiac arrest with a wave of her hand, "Don't try to change the subject! I want pancakes cooked in my very own kitchen. And coffee too. You don't get to just decide to sneak out of here, I'm in this too, you know!" she said, standing over him in her pink fluffy robe and wearing slippers shaped like monkeys, pointing an accusatory finger in his face.

"Pipe down!" he hissed at her "You'll wake you mother!"

Rory snorted "Have you met my mother? Bono could fly in on fairy wings, and poke an IV of Luke's coffee into her arm while playing the Brady Bunch theme song on a ukulele, and she wouldn't wake up at this hour." She said crossing her arms and smirking at him. She began to tap her slippered foot while she waited for his response.

Luke hung his head for a minute, and then looked up at her questioningly "Pancakes, huh?"

"And coffee too, please" she said softening her tone. "Luke, I don't want you sneaking out of here like you've done something wrong, you know?"

Luke stood and walked toward the kitchen, turning back to her, he asked "Well, are you coming?" and she scampered after him. He shook his head and asked "The Brady Bunch? On a ukulele?"

Sitting at the table, she grinned and said "Well, she was always a big fan of the vacation in Hawaii episodes." she explained as she opened a guidebook to Washington DC and began to read while he prepared the batter and heated the skillet.

"What are you doing up so early anyway? He asked.

"Paris called last night. We are meeting in Hartford at 8:00 to start planning for our trip to Washington."

"Ah, I see." He said. He walked to the fridge and pulled out the eggs ands cracked a few into a bowl. "Well then, you'll need these eggs too, protein, you know." He stated firmly.

Rory nodded happily and returned to her notebook. When he placed the plate beside her book, she began to eat without breaking that amazing concentration. He plated some food, covered it with plastic wrap and placed it in the microwave for Lorelai to heat up when she awoke. After rinsing the last of the dishes, he refilled Rory's coffee cup and she smiled at him distractedly. He patted her shoulder and left for work. It was only when the front door clicked behind him that she looked up and realized she wasn't in the diner. She looked at her kitchen as if she were seeing it for the first time, uttered a bewildered "Huh." and munched on a piece of toast which had magically appeared on her plate.

A short time later, Rory was just getting dressed when Lorelai appeared in the kitchen, twitching her nose like Tabitha Stevens on coke. She poked her head into Rory's room, "Coffee? Pancakes?" she asked in a voice filled with wonder.

"I ambushed him as he tried to sneak out again this morning." Rory smirked.

"That's my girl!" Lorelai squealed, and made a beeline for the coffee pot. She poured a cup and drank deeply, "Man," she said with a sigh, "he is a god."

Rory grabbed a notebook and some pens from the table and said "Yep. Got ya a keeper there, Mom." as she headed for the door. "I'll be back by about eleven. Are we still on for shopping?" she called over her shoulder.

"You betcha! Bye kid!" Lorelai called back and she found the plate that he had left in the microwave. "Yep, definitely a keeper." she said delighted.

In a weak moment, meaning that neither of them had been clothed at the time, Luke had agreed to start accompanying her to Friday night dinners again. Lorelai was particularly thankful for this since Rory was leaving in a few days, and she would be gone for weeks. She expressed her gratitude to him often and enthusiastically. Luckily, Richard and Emily often traveled for most of the summer, so the dinners would be on hold for weeks at a time. At the first dinner after Rory's departure, both Richard and Emily watched the younger couple like hawks, searching for the signs of trouble that they had seen in the spring.

The second dinner was more comfortable. There had only been two minor skirmishes between Lorelai and Emily which, Luke had come to understand, meant that it was a good night. They had just finished dessert when Richard glanced out the window and said "The days are getting longer, it's still light out. Luke, why don't you come with me," he asked pushing his chair back from the table, "I want to show you something that has been troubling me with the car." Luke opened his mouth to decline, seeing the panic flit across Lorelai's face at the prospect of prolonging the evening, but Richard was spry for a man of his age, and he was already heading out of the back door. Luke sent Lorelai an apologetic smile as he pushed his chair away from the table and murmured, "Excuse me." to the ladies.

Emily placed her napkin on the table and sighed. Lorelai looked at her with a pout and said "I think Dad likes Luke more than he likes me."

Emily gave her daughter a wry smile and said "It's nice for him to have a boy to play with." in a mocking tone. "Come on, let's take out coffee into the living room, I'll show you the samples for the fabrics I am thinking of using in the guest room in."

By the time Luke had reached the garage, Richard had already raised the hood of his antique car, and was rummaging around in the glove box. "Aha!" he said triumphantly, emerging with a flask and what appeared to be two collapsible cups. He handed one to Luke, and poured a liberal amount of scotch into each cup. Richard took a swallow of his drink, while Luke sipped at it judiciously. He watched as Richard poked his head around the raised hood, and checked to see if the coast was clear before coming to the point of his ruse. "So, tell me, son, are things alright between you and Lorelai now?" he asked bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Luke asked, almost choking on the sip of scotch he had just taken.

"Oh, come now my boy," Richard said conspiratorially, "I'm not a fool. Have you ironed out whatever was causing your troubles?" he asked again.

Luke stared down at the cup in his hand, trying to smother his smile, but failing miserably. He replied simply, "Yes sir, we have."

"Good! Good. That's good." Richard replied before peeking around the hood again. This time, Luke could not hold back the snicker. Richard smiled back at him sheepishly and continued his quest. "So, are you," he paused to form the question, "Do you still intend to propose to Lorelai?" he asked in a slightly anxious tone.

"Yes, sir." Luke replied firmly.

A relieved smile broke across Richard's face. "Good! Good. That's good." He repeated as Luke grinned at him, no longer bothering to hide his amusement. Richard suddenly set his cup and the flask on the running board of the car and said "I have to ask you something." in an urgent tone.

Unable to resist, given all of the subterfuge Richard had been employing for the last few minutes, Luke deadpanned "No I am not, nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party." I

Caught off guard for a moment, Richard pointed a finger at him and said "You have been spending too much time with my daughter!"

Luke smiled, slightly abashed, but said "Given the direction of this conversation, I dare say, it can only get worse, Richard."

Returning the smile Richard murmured "True, too true." Then his face becoming serious again, he asked "If you don't mind my asking, when exactly do you plan to propose?"

Luke thought about it for a moment and then answered "Well, I was planning to talk to Rory first. Ask for her blessing, I guess." he explained, with a slight blush creeping up his cheeks.

"Ah." Richard nodded approvingly, "Good idea!"

Luke nodded too and continued "So, it won't be until after she comes home next month."

"Good! Good. That's good." Richard said yet again. "Can I ask a favor of you?"

Stunned, Luke blinked at him and said "Sure."

"Well, two favors really." He paused thinking it over. "First, would you mind waiting to be sure that Emily and I are back from the Vineyard when you do it?"

Confused about why this would be so important, Luke answered easily "Sure, no problem."

Richard turned to look Luke square in the eye before asking in a serious tone, "Second, would you promise me that you will do your best to convince Lorelai to call her mother to share the news when it happens?"

"Of course!" Luke replied, truly confused now.

Seeing the bafflement on the younger man's face, Richard felt the need to explain. "You know, probably better than most, how it can be between Emily and Lorelai." At Luke's nod he continued, "When Lorelai was engaged to that other fellow," Richard waved his hand vaguely, "she didn't tell her mother. Emily and I only found out about it when Sookie invited us to the engagement party that she threw for them."

"I see." Luke answered quietly.

"Yes." Richard confirmed. "Emily was devastated. I hadn't seen her that hurt since, well, since Lorelai left with Rory. I would appreciate anything you can do to encourage Lorelai not to shut her mother out this time." he said sincerely.

"I will do my best." Luke promised him solemnly.

"Good! Good. That's good." Richard said as he set his cup and the flask on a shelf in the garage, and turned to drop the hood on the car back into place. "Now, shall we rejoin the ladies?" he asked as he turned back to Luke. Luke simply smiled, placed his cup on the shelf and followed Richard back to the house.

While Luke and Richard were having their assignation in the garage, Lorelai was flipping through a book of wallpaper samples with Emily leaning over her shoulder. She had just passed a page which featured a pale pastel striped pattern when Emily asked out of the blue "Do you and Luke plan to have children?"

Lorelai blinked at her mother in confusion and asked "What?"

Emily walked around the sofa and sat down next to Lorelai. "Well, I am assuming that you plan to marry him. That's as plain as the nose on your face, but do you think that you and Luke would like to have children?" she asked again, "Have you thought about it?"

Lorelai studied her mother carefully before answering honestly, "Well, no, we haven't talked about it, but yes I think I would like to."

Emily sat back and looked at Lorelai appraisingly. "Don't you think you ought to start discussing these things with him? I mean, honestly Lorelai, neither of you is getting any younger." She said in an exasperated tone.

Stunned by Emily's ability to hammer home a point, Lorelai simply nodded, but was saved from answering when the men came back into the room, babbling about carburetors or some such nonsense.

That night, they arrived back at Lorelai's house with the unspoken understanding that Luke would stay there that night, as he had most nights since Rory left for Washington. Luke sat down on the couch to try to catch the baseball scores on TV, while Lorelai went upstairs to prepare for bed. A short time later, he came up to find her sitting up in bed, a book open on her lap, wearing one of his flannels as a nightshirt, her glasses perched on her nose. He loved that look, the rumpled, sexy librarian look never failed to do it for him. He hurried into the bathroom to brush his teeth, anxious to join her. When he emerged clad only in his boxers, he stopped to drop his shirt in the hamper before going to hang up his dress pants. He was just closing the closet door when she blurted "Do you want kids?"

He turned to her, his mouth hanging open a bit, and asked "What?"

She took a deep breath and asked him again, "Do you want to have kids?"

Recovering from his initial shock, he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and asked "With you?"

"No, with Mrs. Cassini." she said getting agitated, "Of course with me, unless you have some other woman that you are keeping on the side. If you are, I got to say, you must be a master of time management, mister, because we spend almost all of out time together, and you always seem to have plenty of energy." She babbled, working herself into a full fledged rant. "Of course, that might be why you are all into the healthy food thing, mega-man protein powder, and such. You must be working on your stamina…."

He grinned at her and cut her off with a kiss. Pulling back he looked into those bright blue eyes and said "Yes."

She blinked, "Yes?"

"Yes." He said firmly, "Yes I want to have kids with you. Preferably not right now, but after we are married." He stopped, a thought occurring to him, and a vague sense of panic flooding him, "You aren't, I mean, are you…"

"No! No!" she cried, "I'm not!" she said and saw his shoulders slump in relief.

"Oh, okay." He said taking a deep breath. "Okay." He thought for a moment then asked "Where is this all coming from?"

"My mother asked." She answered.

"Ah. I see." He smiled gently.

"Yeah, and I realized that you and I," she said gesturing between them, "have never really discussed, well, any of this." When she saw his nod of understanding she stroked his cheek tenderly and said softly, "I just want us to be able to talk about the coupon drawer, okay?"

"Okay." He agreed, and wrapped her in a tight hug.


	29. How Do You Say I Love You In Russian?

How Do You Say I Love You in Russian?

Summertime in Stars Hollow was in full swing, but Rory wasn't there to enjoy it. This pained Lorelai more than she cared to admit. She plastered on a smile and tried to act like everything was fine. But, Luke knew it wasn't. He knew that she missed Rory desperately. He spent more and more time with Lorelai, staying at her house most nights, taking her to the movies and out for ice cream. He even broke down and agreed to attend the Forth of July festivities against his better judgment. He would do anything just to see her smile. Not the smile that everyone else saw, but the one that lit her eyes. He became her confidant, her counselor, her co-conspirator and her clown, but somehow as the weeks dragged on, those smiles grew harder to find. He was at his wits end.

One Saturday afternoon, Lorelai was sitting at the counter in the diner, trying to cajole Luke into taking her to Woodbury for a carnival. Luke insisted that he needed to stay at the diner, but Lorelai was convinced that she could wear him down. After thirty solid minutes of pestering, whining and badgering, his patience finally snapped. "Damn it Lorelai," he hissed at her, "I have a business to run! Now, I know that you miss Rory, and I know that you are bored, but I can't be at your beck and call 24/7! I've tried! Really I have, but I don't know what to do anymore!" he paced behind the counter, oblivious to her stunned expression. "I have gone to every movie you wanted to see. I have eaten more ice cream in the last month than I have in my entire life. I have watched Cop Rock. I even went to the stupid town festivals, but nothing makes you happy!" he cried with frustration.

Lorelai hung her head contritely. When she looked up at him, he saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. "You've been great." She said quietly, "You are the best boyfriend any girl could ever hope for. I'm sorry. I know that I have been impossible lately."

The anger melted from his face, leaving only concern behind. "Then talk to me about it." He said, "Tell me what you are feeling. I know that you miss her. I miss her too. That's okay, we can miss her together. But Lorelai, no matter how hard I might try, I can't be Rory."

"I'm thankful for that!" she said giving him a watery chuckle, "otherwise, I would have a whole other set of problems considering what we've been doing."

He smiled and patted her hand. "Just give me until seven, okay? Jess is going to close, so we can go and do something. Or just stay home, whatever you want."

She nodded and slid from the stool. She leaned over and kissed him softly saying "I am sorry. I promise, I will try to be better, okay?" He nodded in response, and she turned to leave.

Lorelai walked home slowly, trying to process what had just happened. _He has been great. Poor Luke, stuck with a mental case for a girlfriend! _She thought,_ I have to snap out of this funk. Rory will be leaving for college in a year, what will I do then? Well, maybe Luke and I will be married by then_, Lorelai daydreamed as she climbed the porch steps_, Maybe, we would be married, and we would have a baby on the way. That would be great. Where would we live? I really don't want to leave my house. Rory and I grew up there. But if we have a baby, we wouldn't have enough room. Maybe we could add on…_ She gazed up at her house, trying to picture it. She shook her head, went inside, and flopped down on the couch scanning the room for an idea of what to do to entertain herself. I should do something for Luke. _Something romantic. Something to show him how much I appreciate him. _She stood up and began to wander through the house aimlessly. _I could take him out for dinner, she thought, but that wouldn't be very special since we go out a lot. Maybe I could cook him dinner._ She let out a very unladylike snort at the thought_. Luke isn't a big fan of the mini pizza, tater tot combo. Maybe Sookie would cook something for us._ She stopped in her tracks and then raced for the phone. _He will be tired when he gets here._ _A romantic, relaxing evening at home,_ she thought as she dialed. _I could set the table with candles and play soft music. Oh! A backrub and foot massage! He would like that. Could I coax him into a bubble bath? s_he wondered, _Possibly, if I join him in there,_ she smirked at the thought. _Yeah, that will do for tonight. I will have to be more conscious of doing things for him, things that he likes to do. I just hope that he doesn't want to go camping…_ "Sook," she asked when her friend answered, "I need your help."

That evening, she greeted him at the door wearing only some silky blue lounging pajamas, her curls loose and riotous, just like he liked them, her feet were bare. He eyed her appreciatively and asked "I guess we are staying in?"

"Yes, we are. Now, you come on in here and sit down, you must be tired." she said leading him to the couch and handing him a cold beer.

He nodded and sank down gratefully, and took a long drink from the bottle, eyeing her suspiciously. "What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing's up." she replied easily, "I just thought that you could use a night off from the 'Lorelai Is A Maniac Show.' Oh! I found a baseball game for you!" she said grabbing the remote control and pressing the on button before handing it to him.

"Lorelai…" he began, but she cut him off.

"Luke, just let me do this for you, okay? You do everything for me, so let me do something for you for a change." She said sincerely. He nodded his acceptance, still a little unsure about what she had planned. "Okay, then!" she said pulling his feet into her lap and unlacing his boots. She pulled them off, stripped his socks off, and began to massage them gently. Luke's head fell back against the cushion, and he closed his eyes, starting to unwind.

"I have dinner ready, whenever you are hungry." She said innocently. He opened one eye and looked at her doubtfully. "Oh! I didn't cook it, you're safe. Sookie made us some risotto."

He closed his eye again and asked, "The magic risotto?"

She chuckled and said "It's good for what ails you. I also have some wine chilling to go with it, so when you are hungry, just let me know, and I will get it all ready for you."

Luke sprawled on the couch quietly for a minute, enjoying the foot rub and listening to the announcer's play by play on the TV. _I must have died_, he thought, _I must have died and this is heaven._ He opened his eyes again, just to be sure that he wasn't imagining this. Lorelai saw him look at her and immediately knew what he was thinking. "Luke, I love you." She said with a tender smile, "And I want you to know that I appreciate you. I haven't been a very good girlfriend lately, but I can fix that. Let me show you what a good girlfriend I can be."

"I think that you are perfect, just as you are." he said in a soft voice.

They sat in contented silence for a while. Finally, Luke asked "Are you hungry?"

"Always." she replied with a smile.

"Well, let's eat." he said swinging his legs down from her lap and starting to get up.

Lorelai pressed him back down saying, "Not yet. I'll call you when it's ready." he nodded and turned his attention to the ballgame, glancing at her with a slight smile as she walked from the room.

A few minutes later, she emerged holding two glasses of wine. She handed one to him and held out her other hand asking "Are you ready?" He placed his hand in hers and let her lead her into the kitchen. The lights were off, two slim tapers in crystal holders graced the table which was draped in heavy white linen. The sounds of a Frank Sinatra CD flowed form the stereo in Rory's room. The table was set with the china that her mother has fobbed off on her long ago, unearthed from a box in the attic. They sat down to enjoy the magic risotto, holding hands across the table and talking softly about anything and everything.

When they finished, Lorelai stacked the dishes in the sink, walked back over to him and held out her hand again. He took it unquestioningly, following her up the stairs with a smug smile plastered on his face. When they reached the top, Lorelai veered into the bathroom saying, "Just give me a minute." Luke walked into the bedroom and began removing his clothes. He had just stripped his t-shirt off when he heard the water running. _Is she taking a shower_, he wondered a little disappointed by the possible delay. _I could probably use a shower_, he thought with a grimace. A few minutes later, he heard the water shut off, and she stepped into the room to find him standing there clad only in his boxers. She smiled at his eagerness, walked over to him and took his hand without a word. She led him into the bathroom, which he was surprised to find filled with candles. He looked down at the tub and saw that it was filled with bubbles. "A bubble bath?" he asked, instantly wary.

"It's okay, macho man, I promise you will like it. Now, lose the shorts and hop in." she laughed. Shooting her a look, he stepped out of his boxers, and placed a foot into the warm water. He glanced at her amused face again as he stepped in and sank down into the tub. "Feel good?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." he answered uneasily.

"Good." She said as she started to unbutton her pajama top. He watched her with avid interest. When she pushed the pants down, he realized that she had been naked beneath them the whole time. An involuntary groan escaped his lips.

Lorelai chuckled and motioned for him to move forward so that she could slide in behind him. Once she was settled, she wrapped her long legs around his stomach and began to massage his shoulders. Luke was torn between the soothing touch of the massage and the instant arousal that he felt due to the fact that her wet, naked body was pressed up against his back. He closed his eyes, and tried to control the impulse to grab her and drag her off to bed, all slippery and soft. She gently began to massage his neck and scalp, running her fingers through his soft curls. When she had managed to wet his hair, she whispered in his ear "Are your eyes closed?"

"Yes." his voice broke on the word.

"Good." she replied as she began to massage shampoo into his hair. Luke felt like every nerve in his body was on fire, but he submitted to her ministrations. Finally, she reached for the cup that she had placed on the rim of the tub, and began rinsing his hair, letting the lather cascade down her chest. When she had removed all of the shampoo, she placed a soft kiss to the back of his neck, enjoying the shiver that coursed through his body.

"Lorelai." he growled her name, his control beginning to fray. "Can we get out now?" he asked.

"Sure." she whispered.

Luke stood, and Lorelai admired the sight of the bubbles sliding down his hard body. He held out a hand to help her up, and they stood in the tub pressed up against one another for a moment. Finally, she stepped out and grabbed two towels from the vanity. She quickly wrapped one around herself and unfolded the second one. Ignoring his outstretched hand, she began to dry him off. Finally, when she stood before him again, he pulled her to him and kissed her with unbridled passion. They broke apart, breathless, and Lorelai took his hand to lead him to the bed. She pushed him back gently and proceeded to worship at the altar of Luke.

Later that night, it was Lorelai who cradled Luke against her. Her arms were wrapped tightly around him, as his head rested on her breast. "Hey Lorelai?" he whispered to her, unsure if she was still awake.

"Yeah?" she responded in a whisper.

He pulled back to look at her and said simply "Thank you."

She flashed him that grin that still made his heart flip and said "Anytime. Anytime at all."

Two weeks later.

_Finally!_ Lorelai thought as her eyes popped open. _Rory finally comes home today. _She turned her head to see a post it note stuck to the pillow that Luke used. It read 'coffee's on.' _Which means I love you in Luke-ish, _she thought as she rolled out of bed with a giddy smile. But, the smile started to fade as she made her way downstairs._ Wow, it's going to be weird not having him here every night. I guess that we will have to go back to the few nights a week routine again._ She frowned as she poured. _Both Rory and Jess will be starting school again soon, and Jess won't be able to cover the diner as much. _He had quit his part-time job at Wal Mart, picking up the extra hours at the diner when Luke was with Lorelai. _Well, we will just have to figure that out as it comes. _She decided as she carried her mug upstairs with her to head for the shower.

A few hours later, she was walking through the airport in Hartford. She stopped to check the monitor, and glanced at the time at the bottom of the display. _Forty-five more minutes! _her inner voice whined. She decided to kill some time browsing the gift shop. She looked at all of the Hartford sponsored gift items, and wondered who would buy them. She decided to page through a magazine while she waited. Looking over the selection, hers eyes were repeatedly drawn to the new issue of _In Style Weddings. _She fought to control the urge to snatch it from the shelf and devour it. _It's not like I'm engaged or anything,_ she reminded herself as she gazed at the cover. _Resist! Resist!_

Decisively, she turned from the magazines and stalked back over the Hartford gifts display and started grabbing as much as she could hold. She had a Hartford, Connecticut sweatshirt, a Hartford, Connecticut notebook, a Hartford, Connecticut pencil set, a Hartford, Connecticut shot glass and a beer mug. She glanced around the store before adding a Hartford baguette, a Hartford bear, and Hartford sunglasses to the top of the pile and marched to the register. As the clerk rang her up, she kept glancing at Lorelai as if she were slightly unstable, she had never sold so much Hartford merchandise to one person. Grabbing her bags, Lorelai left the store, shooting the _In Style Weddings_ a triumphant glare.

She stood impatiently at the security barrier craning to catch a glimpse of Rory as she came through. Finally, their eyes locked and they ran toward each other, hugging so hard that they fell to the ground. Laughing, Lorelai squealed "I am so glad to see you!"

"No, I'm glad to see you!" Rory countered. "I am never leaving home again." she vowed.

Grinning, Lorelai said "Oh, that's my emotionally stunted girl! Hey, I got you gifts."

"What? I'm the one that left town, I'm supposed to get you gifts." Rory protested.

"Oh, but I got here early and there was nothing to do except feed gummy bears to the bomb-sniffing dogs which, apparently, the United States government frowns upon." She explained.

"You got in trouble with the government while you were waiting for me?" Rory asked concerned.

"Just a little." Lorelai reassured her.

"How much is a little?" Rory asked suspiciously.

"Learn Russian." Lorelai advised with a grin.


	30. Blessings, Blenders and Baseball Bats

**A/N: Well, this is it. I want to thank you all for reading, and for your wonderful comments and compliments. I can't believe that this baby went on for 30 chapters! I just couldn't get that idea about Sookie's words out of my head, and now look at what we've done! So here is our final chapter, I hope that you enjoy it!**

Blessings, Blenders and Baseball Bats

Rory had been home for nearly a week, and Luke still had not had the chance to talk to her without Lorelai around. He stood at the register, gazing out at the square. The diner was nearly empty at this time of day, and he was feeling restless. Suddenly, he saw Rory walking across the square hand in hand with Dean. They walked toward the market, Dean clutching his Doose's Market apron, obviously on his way to work. Luke called to Caesar that he was stepping out for a minute, and rushed out of the door. He saw them standing near the market, kissing. Luke stopped dead in his tracks. He knew that they had been dating for a long time, but it wasn't often that he actually saw Rory kiss the boy. It always threw Luke for a loop. _She's growing up_, he realized, _soon she will be off to Harvard_. The thought made him a little sad. He still remembered the sweet girl who invited him to her caterpillar's funeral. He went, of course because even then, she had used the Rory face effectively, and he brought brownies for the wake.

Even before he started dating Lorelai, Luke and Rory had their own kind of relationship. They seemed to understand each other instinctively. They were both quiet and reserved people, they both enjoyed solitary activity, and did not crave action the way her mother did. But what bonded them together more than anything else was that they were both fiercely protective of Lorelai.

Luke backed away from the young couple, and retreated to the diner. Hoping that he could catch her as she walked by, he hovered near the door. Finally, she walked by. Luke stepped out and called "Hey Rory?"

She turned and smiled at him saying "Oh, hey Luke."

"Can you," he started, gesturing toward the diner, "Would you come in for a minute, I want to talk to you."

Surprised by the request, Rory responded quickly "Oh. Okay, sure." She said as she climbed the steps to follow him in. She was even more surprised when he did not stop at the counter, but walked to the curtain covering the stairs and held it aside for her. She climbed the stairs to the apartment, trying to figure out what this could be about. He opened the door and Rory walked in, taking in the new walls that had been constructed, and trying not to snicker at the nautical artwork. She was sure that her mom would have already mocked him for it. Luke walked to the couch and motioned for her to take a seat.

When she was seated, he sat on the coffee table across from her, wringing his hands nervously. "Luke, are you okay?" she asked, beginning to get concerned.

Jolted from his thoughts, Luke replied, "What? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. Fine." He hesitated for a moment and then dove straight in, looking her straight in the eyes. "Rory, I want to ask your Mom to marry me." He said in a rush.

A delighted grin spread across her face, and Luke felt warmed by its radiance. "Oh Luke." She sighed, "Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Um, yeah. I've been planning on it for a long time, but I wanted to talk to you first." He looked at his hands while mumbling "I wanted to get your blessing."

"My blessing?" she asked, stunned by his revelation.

"Um, yeah, you know…" He answered trailing off nervously.

"Wow." She said, trying to take it all in, "Wow, yeah. Yes, I mean. Yes, you have my blessing." She said just to be clear. "But Luke, shouldn't you be asking Grandpa about this?" she asked, wanting to be sure that they followed the proper protocol.

Luke laughed and said "Oh, he knows. He asked my about my intentions at that first dinner that I went to, so he has known for a while now."

"Oh." She said softly as she realized that Luke really had been waiting for a long time. "Well, why didn't you ask sooner?" she was curious.

Luke looked back down at his hands and said "Well, I was planning to. I had the ring and stuff ready, and I was going to talk to you, and then, well, you know…"

"The accident." she finally caught on.

"Yeah." he acknowledged. "Then by the time we straightened everything out, you were leaving for Washington, and well, I wanted to talk to you in person." He finished with a shrug.

Rory beamed at him again, "Wow. This is great!" she enthused, "When are you going to pop the question?" she wanted to know.

"Next week, I think." He smiled back at her, "I'm gonna take her out… I have something in mind." He said cagily, not wanting to give too much away.

Impulsively, Rory leaned over and gave him a hug. As usual, he blushed and patted her on the back awkwardly. She stood up, the smile still plastered to her face, and they looked at each other in complete understanding. Rory laughed and said "Well, I had better go to the library or something. I can't go home until I can control this smile, mister!"

Luke returned the laugh and warned "Yeah, don't go giving it away, now. You'll steal my thunder!" he said as he walked her to the door, fixing her with a stern look which was slightly undermined by the twitching of his lips.

Rory started down the stairs calling back to him "Call me Belinda, 'cause my lips are sealed, baby!"

As she stepped into the diner, Luke leaned back against the wall and blew out a giant sigh of relief.

_This proposing stuff isn't as easy as they make it seem in the movies_, Luke thought with a groan as he sat at his kitchen table with a notepad, trying to work out a plan of attack. _Oh sure, there's the candlelit dinner proposal, _he snorted, _too unoriginal._ _Anyway, that whole thing wasn't like them, she would know that something was up if they ended up foregoing Al's for Chez Snooty. There was the dropping the ring in her glass, or dessert or something, but then he ran the risk of having it consumed by Lorelai's voracious appetite. Besides,_ he thought dismissing that option too_, that's a little disgusting, if you think about it. _He was tempted to ask when she was naked and panting beneath him, _she would definitely say yes then,_ he mused with an arrogant gleam in his eye, _repeatedly._ But Luke knew that she would want to tell Rory every detail of the proposal, so the naked, panting option was out.

Jess stepped out of his room and caught Luke staring out into space, tapping his pen on the pad. He stepped over to see what Luke had written, the paper simply said 'candlelight dinner?, champagne?, naked?' each entry with a line drawn through it. He smirked at his uncle, who still had not noticed his presence, "Whatcha doin'?" Jess asked in a taunting voice.

Luke jumped in his chair and scowled at the boy, trying to cover the notepad with his hand. "What do you want?" he snarled, embarrassed.

"Well, Major Tom, this is ground control. I thought that you would have left for Lorelai's by now." he said with an amused smile.

"Oh." Luke said, flustered, "I'm going to head over there at about ten. She and Rory were painting nails or something…" he said dismissively.

"I see, well, I suppose that it's best that you stay out of all that." Jess said taking a seat across from Luke, watching his uncle nod emphatically. "So," Jess said casually, tapping the side of his thumb against the table, "you come up with a good way to propose yet?"

Surprised, Luke looked up quickly, only to heave a resigned sigh and admit, "No." in a sullen voice. They sat in silence for a minute mulling it over, but coming up empty handed. Finally, Jess got up and slapped his uncle on the back a couple of times saying "You'll think of something." and he went back into his room and shut the door.

"Yeah. Thanks for your help." Luke muttered as he looked back down at the page. He didn't want to ask Rory for ideas, that would be too easy. He wanted to come up with it himself. He wanted it to be special. Discouraged, he closed the notebook, and stood and stretched. _Well, I guess the candlelit dinner with the disgusting ring in the dessert option is always a good fallback,_ he thought as he moved to the couch and flipped the TV on to find the ballgame. He sat with his feet propped on the coffee table, watching the game with no particular interest when it struck him. The perfect proposal.

When he stayed at Lorelai's that night, he allowed her to attribute his smug demeanor to the fact that she had worn a sexy new nightgown to bed that night. He made love to her fervently, leaving them both spent and content. When she bounced into the diner at lunch, she noticed that he has in an unusually chipper mood, and called him on it. "What are you so perky about?"

"Perky?" He asked derisively. "I am not perky." He sneered, struggling to keep the smile out of his voice.

"Someone got some good lovin' last night" she teased sotto voice, grinning at him speculatively.

"Well, there is that." He admitted returning her grin. "So, you busy Saturday?" he asked leaning on the counter and dropping his voice.

"Saturday?" she asked thinking it over, "Well, Rory and I were going school supply shopping in the morning. That will be a three hour love affair with the Office Depot, but other than that…" she said with a wave of her hand. "Why, what do you have in mind?"

He straightened up and said casually, "I just thought that I'd take you out, if you were free."

"I'm free." She answered. "You mean 'take me out' like a date?" she asked, curiously.

"Yeah, like a date." He said impatiently, "We're dating aren't we?"

She laughed and said, "Yeah, we are. But our dates usually go something along the lines of me going 'please, Luke, let's do this' and you going 'no!' and me whining 'please, Luke, please?' and you snapping 'no! I don't want to do that!' and me flirting and saying 'I'll make it worth your while' and you blushing and saying 'fine, let's go.' This sounds like a date – date." She explained.

He couldn't help but laugh at her assessment of their relationship. He decided to use it to his advantage. "Yeah, I know. That's why I thought it would be nice if I took you out, and avoided all of the whining."

"Okay." She answered happily. "What kind of date will it be?"

"A surprise." He answered shortly.

"Aw, come on!" she protested, "How am I supposed to know what to wear?"

"It's casual." He answered.

"Yeah, but how casual? Skirt and top casual? Jeans and a t-shirt casual?" she persisted, hoping for a hint.

"Jeans and a t-shirt casual." He answered decisively, "And you should wear tennis shoes."

"Tennis shoes?" she asked dismayed, "On a date? Where are you taking me?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You'll see." The smug grin had returned.

She stared at him for a moment, trying to read him. "Okay." She said slowly, sliding from her stool, "I just hope it doesn't involve sticks and dirt and stuff," she said in a warning voice. Luke laughed again as he leaned over to kiss her. Lorelai shot him one last glare, and turned to leave calling "Later, babe." over her shoulder. Luke raised his hand in a wave as she stepped out of the door, and finally released his hold on the smile that he had been tamping down the whole time.

Lorelai spent all of Saturday morning badgering Rory to help her figure out where Luke was taking her. Rory could honestly answer that she had no idea what kind of date would involve footwear with rubber soles. Rory was a little disappointed, because she was waiting for him to pop the big question, but from what she heard about this evening's plan, it didn't sound like it would happen tonight.

Finally, Luke knocked on the front door as he opened it at about 6:00 that evening, and called "Hello?"

Lorelai came bounding down the stairs in his favorite pair of jeans and a pink t-shirt. She held some pink and green plaid tennis shoes in one hand, and a pair of pink sandals in the other. She kissed him hello, and said "Are you sure that I need to wear tennis shoes? These sandals are so much cuter." As she held them up and waved them before his eyes like a hypnotist.

"I'm sure." He said with a smile, "besides, the sneakers match, too" he said helpfully.

Lorelai pouted as she sat on the stair to pull them on. "Yeah, I bought them today, but the sandals wanted to come home with me too, and now their feelings will be hurt!"

"Tell them that you promise to wear them tomorrow, they'll understand." He reassured her.

Standing, she smoothed her jeans over her hips and said "Okay! I'm ready." He took her hand and led her to the truck. He began to drive toward Litchfield, with Lorelai beside him, peppering him with questions, trying to pry a hint out of him. He remained silent, rewarding her efforts with only a smile. Finally, he pulled up in front of a small store in the downtown area, and pointed through the windshield. She peered through the glass to read the scrawly writing on the window which read 'Jilly's Juice Bar'. She turned to him in disbelief, "A juice bar?" she demanded. "You're taking me to a juice bar?" Luke simply nodded. "You're taking _me_ to a juice bar?" she asked again incredulous.

"Yep." He answered, getting out of the truck and going around the back to open her door. He stood there, with the door open, and watched as she debated whether to laugh or berate him. "They have smoothies." He added as an enticement, seeing the flicker in her eyes as she considered it. Finally, she put her hand in his and let him lead her into the store. He walked up to the counter and ordered some disgusting sounding wheat grass concoction for himself and noting Lorelai's stunned silence, ordered a chocolate banana smoothie for her.

Lorelai walked to one of the small tables and sat down. She wasn't sure what exactly she had expected, but it wasn't this. A few minutes later, Luke came to the table, and placed her drink before her. She took a sip, and was surprised by how good it was. She continued sipping quietly, her mind racing, trying to figure out what he was up to.

He watched the wheels turning in her head, sipping his juice and waiting patiently. Finally, he reached across and took her hand in his. "Have you figured it out yet?" he asked softly.

"No." she said petulantly, sipping on her smoothie.

He sat back and smiled at her, with a twinkle in his eye. "This is the patented Luke Danes date." He said gesturing to the juice bar.

She looked up, finally getting it, she whispered "Juice bar and batting cages?" He nodded. "Are we really going to the batting cages?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face.

"Yep." He confirmed. "Hence, the tennis shoes." he explained pointing to her feet.

She grinned at him, delighted, but a sudden frown began to crease her brow. "But, I don't know how to bat." She said concerned.

"I'll teach you." He said with a shrug.

She looked at him with wide eyes, protesting "But, what if I hurt you? What if I swing the bat thing and it hits you?"

"I don't think you will." He replied with a happy grin, "I'll take my chances." He said easily, "And I will wear a helmet."

"A helmet?" she asked horrified at the thought of putting one on. "I have to wear a helmet?"

"Yes, but you'll look really sexy in it." he promised. _Well, she'll look sexy to me,_ he thought to himself.

"Okay." She said drawing the word out doubtfully. Luke stood up from the table and held his hand out for hers. She slipped her hand into his trustingly and they left to head for the batting cages.

When they got there, Luke changed some bills in for the tokens that run the pitching machines. He perused the selection of aluminum bats available, and selected one for Lorelai to use. She pointed to the bat that he had pulled out of the back of his truck, and asked "Why can't I have your bat?"

He grinned and said "Dirty!" then whispered to her "Later." as she turned slightly pink. He started walking toward the cages, holding both bats in one hand and her hand in the other. He leered at her meaningfully and said "My bat is too big for you."

"Ha!" she barked a laugh, "I can handle your bat, baby. I've done it before, and I'll do it again!"

Chuckling as he set their stuff down on a bench outside of the cages, he explained "My bat is heavier than these. It will hit the ball farther in a game, but it would hurt your shoulders and arms." Lorelai watched with interest as he pulled a glove out of his back pocket and put it on his right hand. "I'm going to go in there," he said pointing the bat toward the cage, "and show you what to do, then you can try it. okay?" She nodded, happy to be left out for once.

Lorelai watched him put the batting helmet on, pull it down to shade his eyes from the evening sun, and step into the cage. _See, now, that looks good on him._ She thought her eyes raking his back appreciatively as he fed tokens to the machine. Luke stepped up to the plate and spread his legs apart, knees bent, in the classic batter's position. Lorelai was gratified to see the material of his jeans tighten across that fabulous butt. Luke swung and connected with the first pitch, twisting his body around on the follow through. Lorelai sat back on the bench thinking _Lordy, he's hot!_ as she saw his muscles bunch and release under his t-shirt, _I love baseball! _Pitch after pitch, she watched him go through the same routine, and found herself squirming a little in her seat. When the machine stopped spitting balls at him, he took off the helmet, shook his head a bit to cool off, and stepped out of the cage, walking over to her with that sexy, cocky man-playing-sports walk.

Like the good Baseball Annie she hoped to be, Lorelai jumped up from the bench and kissed him soundly, her hands splayed across his chest, her nails gently digging into the soft cotton of his shirt. Maybe I can distract him, and I won't have to do the whole batting thing, she thought as she opened her mouth and deepened the kiss. When he broke the kiss, he stared down at her arrogantly and smirked "Liked that, did you?"

"Yuh huh!" she said nodding enthusiastically. "Do it some more." She urged and he laughed, the sound sending another ripple of want coursing through her.

"I will," He assured her "But, now it's your turn." He said as she groaned.

"Luke," she began in a whine, but he cut her off.

"Please," he asked softly, "please let me show you this. It's fun, I promise." He said earnestly, and her heart melted.

She stroked his cheek with her fingertips and gazed at him lovingly saying "Okay Super Jock, let's go." She said plopping the helmet on her head and stalking toward the cage he had just left.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there, slugger" he called trotting after her and grabbing her arm, "Not that one. Try this one." He said taking her to a cage labeled 'slow pitch' on the sign.

She stared at the sign derisively and asked, "What is this, the baby cage?"

"Yes." He answered, ushering her in. He took her over to the plate and showed her how to stand. He pulled at token from his pocket and said "Hold on, I'm going to help you swing." as he stepped over to start the machine. He returned and stood pressed up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and covering her hands with his. "Now keep your eye on the ball." he ordered in a low, sexy voice. She wiggled her bottom against him and grinned as the machine launched the first pitch. They swung and missed the first few, and Lorelai pouted saying "Baby, we're aren't very good swingers!" with a giggle. Finally, they connected with one, sending it bouncing off into a corner. She wiggled against him again and squealed "I did it!" as he chuckled. They swung at the next pitch, and connected again, adding to her excitement. They continued until the machine ground to a halt.

She smiled over her shoulder at him and said, "You're right, this is fun!"

He kissed her cheek and asked "Ready to try it on your own?" Lorelai bit her lip nervously and nodded. Luke fed another token to the machine and stepped out of the cage to watch her. He propped a foot up on the bottom of the fence, and clung to the chain links with his fingers, calling instructions to her. She swung and missed the first few balls, and he could see her getting frustrated. "Keep your eye on it!" he called "Your timing is good, but you are looking away at the last minute, so you aren't connecting." She nodded her understanding and narrowed her eyes in concentration. The next pitch crossed the plate, and she hit it hard. It sailed to the back of the cage, and she grinned in triumph.

Lorelai hit a few more as the machine wound down again, and when it stopped she turned to him excitedly calling "Did you see? I hit it! I hit it!" she squealed as he entered the cage. She bounced over to him and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

Luke threw back his head and laughed at her exuberance. "I saw. You did." He answered, excited for her. "and for that, I think you should get a prize." He said reaching into his pocket.

"Oooh! There are prizes in baseball? I didn't know that. If I had known I would have…" she trailed off as she saw him kneel down on one knee in front of her. Her hand flew to her mouth as she realized what was happening.

Luke looked up at her, holding a sparkling diamond out to her, and said simply "Lorelai Gilmore, I love you with all of my heart. Will you marry me?"

Tears began to streak down her cheeks as she gazed at him, her eyes overflowing with love. "Yes." She whispered at first, but her voice grew stronger, "Yes, Luke Danes, I would love to marry you!"

Luke took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger with trembling hands. He stood and wrapped her tightly in his arms, kissing her with all that he had. Lorelai clung to him, as she always had, and offered silent thanks that her prayers had been answered.

Eventually, grinning like idiots, they gathered their belongings so that he could take her home to tell Rory the news. He helped her into the truck and went around to the driver's side. When he slid behind the wheel, he found her staring at the batting cages, deep in thought. "Are you okay?" he asked, afraid that she may have second thoughts.

She turned to him and beamed, "I'm great." She said, and then she giggled a little saying "Juice bar and betting cages." as she shook her head at him. He smiled back at her, glancing down at the ring on her finger. Lorelai followed his eyes, and stared at the ring that he had put there. When she looked up, her eyes were bright with tears again. She reached over to pull him over for a kiss. They broke apart and she pressed her forehead to his and said "I have to tell you, for the record, that you, Lucas Danes, are very good at dating. You're very good at dating, indeed."

The End

(Or, just the beginning!)


End file.
